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THE    EDUCATIONAL   WRITINGS   OF 
JOHN   LOCKE 


EDUCATIONAL  CLASSICS 
/ 

The  following  Volumes  in  this  series  are 
no-w  ready : 

FROEBEL'S  CHIEF  EDUCATIONAL 
WRITINGS.  Edited  by  S.  S.  F.  Fletcher, 
M.A.,  Ph.D.,  Lecturer  in  Education  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge,  and  James  Welton,  M.A., 
Professor  of  Education  in  the  University  of  Leeds. 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS  OF 
LOCKE.  Edited  by  J.  W.  Adamson,  B.A., 
Professor  of  Education  in  the  University  of  London. 

ROUSSEAU  ON  EDUCATION.  Edited  by 
R.  L.  Archer,  M.A.,  Professor  of  Education  in 
the  University  College  of  North  Wales,  Bangor. 

PESTALOZZrS  EDUCATIONAL  WRIT- 
INGS.  Edited  by  J.  A.  Green,  M.A.,  Professor 
of  Education  in  the  University  of  Sheffield. 

VIVES  AND  THE  RENASCENCE  EDU- 
CATION  OF  WOMEN.  Edited  by  Foster 
Watson,  D.  Lit.,  Professor  of  Education  in  the 
University  College  of  Wales,  Aberystwyth. 


LONDON :  EDWARD  ARNOLD 


EDUCATIONAL    CLASSICS 

General  Editor:  Prof.  J.W.  Adamson 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS 

OF 

JOHN    LOCKE 

EDITED   BY 

JOHN  WILLIAM  ADAMSON 

PROFESSOR   OF    EDUCATION    IN   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF    LONDON 


NEW  YORK 

LONGMANS,    GREEN    &    CO 

LONDON  :    EDWARD  ARNOLD 

1912 

[i4W  rig}ih  reserved] 


AMICIS 
QUI    MIHI 

ET  DISCIPULI  ET  MAGISTRI 

FUERUNT. 


L.  I  S  R  '-    ■»  V 

SfATE  NUKV.'.c  t<<:HOOL 

SANTA  BARftARA,  CALlFuRNl* 


L6 

MIS'  \-^M 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFOl 
SANTA  BARBARA 


GENERAL  PREFACE 

The  belief  which  inspires  the  editors  of .  the  volumes 
included  in  this  series  is  one  which  should  find  a  ready- 
adherence  from  all  who  accept  the  doctrine  of  develop- 
ment. That  belief  may  be  summed  up  in  the  assertion 
that  the  present  is  both  the  child  of  the  past  and  the 
parent  of  the  future.  Hence  the  high  value  of  all  forms 
of  historical  study.  The  educational  theory  and  practice 
of  a  community  are  not  things  which  arise  e  nihilo  ;  they 
are  the  result  of  the  thoughts,  activities,  conditions,  arid 
circumstances  which  constituted  the  community's  past 
life,  especially  as  these  were  more  directly  related  to  the 
upbringing  of  the  young.  This  is  so  far  true,  that  an 
intelligent  and  effective  comprehension  of  any  existing 
educational  system  can  only  be  attained  when  its  ante- 
cedent conditions  are  known  and  appreciated. 
2  Educational  history  furnishes  a  key  to  the  under- 
r—  standing  of  many  of  the  problems  of  aim,  administration, 
organization  and  method,  which  confront  the  student 
1^ to-day.  It  will  also  help  him  to  assume  a  just  attitude 
^-^  towards  the  future,  dispose  him  to   avoid   routine,  to 


vi  GENERAL  PREFACE 

beware  of  prejudice  and  to  keep  an  open  mind  with 
reference  to  suggested  change.  History  is  the  true 
prophylactic  against  the  fogey  dom  whichbesets_  the 
^choohnaster,  the  committee-man  and  the  official. 

The  influence  exerted  by  the  lives  or  writings  of 
individual  thinkers  is  one  of  many  factors  of  the 
protracted  development  of  education.  But  many  have 
written,  and  written  well,  on  education,  whose  effect 
upon  practice  has  been  negligible.  The  aim  of  the 
present  series  is  to  present  only  such  authors  as  have 
shaped  subsequent  educational  history,  or  who  at  least 
have  depicted  with  authority  the  educational  ideas  and 
practice  of  their  own  time. 

The  educational  writings  of  John  Locke  are  of  more 
than  professional  interest ;  indeed,  their  more  obvious 
appeal  is  to  the  parent  and  the  young  man  who  con- 
sciously sets  himself  the  task  of  "  self-education."  But 
the  reader,  whether  lay  or  professional,  is  apt  to  find  the 
longer  treatise  somewhat  prolix  and  encumbered  by 
repetitions,  while  the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding 
was  not  revised  by  its  author.  In  the  present  work, 
the  provision  of  cross-references  and  the  selection  of  the 
first  edition  of  8ome  Thoughts  as  the  basal  text  have,  it 
is  hoped,  secured  an  arrangement  of  Locke's  exposition 

convenient  for  the  purposes  of  study. 

J.  W.  A. 


PREFACE 

The  educational  writings  of  an  author  who  died  more 
than  two  centuries  ago  may  be  thought  to  possess  an 
interest  little  more  than  antiquarian  at  the  present  day. 
Unfortunately,  the  historical  study  of  education,  as 
commonly  pursued,  serves  to  confirm  rather  than  to 
correct  such  a  supposition,  since  it  frequently  diverts 
the  student  from  the  development  which  has  taken  place 
in  the  actual  application  of  educational  ideas,  and  trans- 
fers his  attention  to  the  biographies,  personal  opinions, 
or  mei'e  obiter  dicta  of  individual  men  and  women,  whose 
influence  upon  homes,  schools,  universities,  or  administra- 
tion has  been  either  small  or  quite  negligible. 

But  there  have  been  men  and  women  whose  lives  or 
writings  or  both  combined  have  exerted  great  influence 
upon  the  course  of  events ;  the  educational  situation  of 
the  present  is  to  be  understood  in  its  completeness  only 
by  reference  to  the  past  as  embodied  in  their  work. 
John  Locke  is  of  the  number.  He  was  profoundly  dis- 
satisfied with  education  as  practised  in  his  own  day,  and 
his  criticisms  throw  light  on  the  aims  and  methods  of 


viii  PREFACE 

the  schools  of  the  late  seventeenth  century.  But  his 
writings  also  shaped  the  theory  and  practice  of  his  im- 
mediate successors  outside  his  own  country,  particularly 
in  France  and  Germany.  His  principles  and  methods 
still  live,  as  witness  some  of  the  most  recent  changes  of 
scholastic  procedure.  Locke's  right  to  be  included  in  a 
series  of  "  educational  classics "  is  not  likely  to  be  dis- 
puted. The  present  volume  attempts  to  make  clear  his 
position  amongst  the  various  influences  which  have 
shaped  the  real  history  of  education. 

J.  W.  ADAMSON. 

King's  College,  London, 
July,  1912. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

General  Preface        -  -  -  -  -  -        v 

Preface  -  -  -  -  -  -  -      vii 

Chronological  Table  -  -  -  -  -       xi 

Introduction   .-.-.--] 
Bibliographical  Note  -  -  -  -  -      20 

Some  Thoughts  concerning  Education       -  -  -      21 

Or  the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding    -  -  -    181 

Index    -.------    266 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE 

1632.     John  Locke,  born  at  Wrington,  Somerset,  August  29.  - 

1646-52.     At  Westminster  School. 

1652-67.     At    Christ   Church,    Oxford.      B.A.    1656.      M.A.   1658. 

Senior  student,  tutor,  teacher  of  Greek  and  of  rhetoric. 

First  continental  tour  1665.     M.B.  1674. 

1668.     Locke,  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society. 

1667-84.     Member  of  the  household  of  Lord  Ashley  (first  Earl  of 

Shaftesbury  1672).^jruardian  to  Ashley's  grandson 

(third  Earl)  1674-83.      1675-79:    Locke  in  France. 

1684 :  Expelled  from  his  studentship  at  Christ  Church 

by  desire  of  Charles  II. 
1683-89.     Exile  in  Holland.     Locke's  letters  on  the  education  of 

Clarke's  son. 
1689-1704.     Commissioner  of  Appeals. 
^1690.     An  Essay  concerning  Human  Understanding  published. 
/   1693.     Some  Thoughts  concerning  Education  published. 
1695-1700.     Locke,  a  Commissioner  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
1695.     Third  edition  of  Some  Thoughts,  enlarged ;  Coste's  French 

translation  (fifth  edition  1744). 

1697.  Of  the  Conduct  of  the   Understanding   begun.     Memor- 

andum proposing  Poor  Law  reform  and  the  institution 
of  "  Working  Schools." 

1698.  Fourth  edition  of  Some  Thoughts. 

1704.     Locke   died    at    Gates,   High    Laver,   Essex,    Gctober   28. 

Gates  was  his  home  from  1691  onwards. 
1706.     Of  the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding  published  in  The 

Works  of  Mr.  John  Locke. 
1714,     First  edition  of  Locke's  Collected  Works  published. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS 
OF  JOHN  LOCKE 

INTRODUCTION 

The  most  general  charge  brought  by  its  contemporaries 
against  the  school-room  of  the  seventeenth  century  was 
that  it  failed  to  adapt  its  ideals  to  the  profound  changes 
which  were~becoming  manifest  in  social  life.  Throughout 
Europe  the  school  maintained  the  cosmopolitan  type  of 
instruction  which  was  the  natural  correlative  of  the 
medieval  Church  and  Empire.  It  ignored,  or  affected 
to  ignore,  the  spirit  of  nationalism  which  was  everywhere 
rijamfest;  consequently T^t  taugIit~no  modern  languages, 
and~lnade  rio~open  and  avow^  use  of  modern  history^ 
litera^ufeT'or^eography.  It  admitted  grudgingly  a  little 
cbmiriercial  aritlimetic  amongst  its  studies,  as  a  concession 
to  the  same  demand  which,  at  a  later  date,  caused  schools 
to  offer  teaching  in  shorthand  or  typewriting ;  and  this 
was  in  the  age  of  Descartes  and  Isaac  Newton.  _0f  modern 
science,  then  come  to  the  birth,  and  of  the  widespreadT"" 
readiness  to  carry  observation  and  experiment  into  the 
realm  of  "  Nature,"  the  school  took  no  account. 

It  is  true  that  the^""^'  new  philosophy "  was  not  yet 
sufficiently  advanced,  elaborated,  and  systematized  to  be 
made  an  agent  of  education.  Sprat,  in  his  Historij  of  the 
Royal  Society  (1667)  deprecated  the  notion  that  the  new 
body  would  encroach  upon  the  work  of  the  universities, 
seeing  that  its  studies  were  unsuited  to  undergraduates. 

1 


2  JOHN  LOCKE 

But  the  extension  of  the  bounds  of  knowledge  was  obvious, 
and  many  shared  Bacon's  enthusiastic  belief  in  the  pos- 
sibility of  greater  achievements  to  come.  Outside  the 
schools  the  monopoly  of  knowledge  and  wisdom  which 
had  once  been  conceded  to  the  ancients  was  gradually 
breaking  down,  in  consequence  of  the  newer  methods  of 
inquiry,  directed  by  a  spirit  which  cared  little  for  the 
pretensions  of  authority.  With  Bacon  the  newer  men 
were  ready  to  urge  that  they  were  the  ancients;  the 
assertion  carried  with  it  a  claim  for  the  official  recognition 
of  modern  studies,  and  the  hope  of  insuring  "  the  relief 
of  man's  estate  "  carried  the  new  method  into  every  field 
of  investigation. 

In  spite  of  changed  circumstances,  the  schools  preserved 
unaltered  the  traditional  course  of  much  Latin,  some 
Greek,  and,  far  less  frequently,  some  Hebrew ;  the  learn- 
ing of  the  great  biblical  scholars  had  effected  an  entrance 
where  the  new  philosophy  had  failed.  We  must  not,  of 
course,  think  of  the  Latin  of  the  seventeenth-century 
school  as  we  think  of  a  "  subject "  in  a  modern  curricu- 
lum— that  is,  as  a  single  branch  of  knowledge  lying  within 
well-defined  boundaries.  But  the  greater  part  of  a  boy's 
school-life  was  devoted  to  the  formal  side  of  the  study  of 
Latin,  the  memorizing  of  the  grammar  book  (in  Latin) 
during  the  earlier  years,  and  rhetorical  training  in  prose 
and  verse  during  the  later. 

As  part  of  the  new  order  of  things,  domestic  comfort 
was  more  generally  enjoyed  and  appreciated,  and  a 
greater  refinement  in  manners  and  in  taste  followed. 
Nevertheless,  the  schools  retained  a  roughness  of  life 
and  of  behaviour  which  had  become  an  anachronism;  and 
boys  left  home  for  school  at  an  age  which,  to-day,  would 
find  them  in  the  Kindergarten.  Eton  and  Westminster 
were  the  most  noted  English  schools  of  Locke's  day ;  he 
was  a  boy  at  the  latter  when  Busby  was  in  his  prime. 
"  Westminsters  "  became  a  byword  for  turbulence  and 
worse,  and  the  savagery  of  the  Eton  "  ram-hunt "  sur- 
vived for  nearly  half  a  century  after  Locke's  death.  The 
novelists  and  essayists  of  the  early  eighteenth  century 


INTEODUCTION  3 

frequently  attribute  the  unpopularity  of  schools  to  the 
fears  of  Aveakly  indulgent  mothers  ;  a  more  convincing 
explanation  may  be  found  in  the  contrast  between  the 
life  of  the  home  and  that  of  the  boarding-school.^ 

Throughout  the  seventeenth  century  the  schools  con- 
tinued to  lose  their  hold  upon  the  socially  distinguished 
class,  and  the  process  was  accelerated  as  the  studies  and 
manners  of  school-boys  departed  more  widely  from  its 
social  ideals.  The  schools  imparted  "  learning,"  and 
learning  was  something  of  a  trade,  unsuitable  to  men  of 
position  or  of  affluence.  Referring  to  her  son,  Colin,  a 
Westminster  boy,  Lady  Caithness  writes,  in  1692  :  "Som 
says  the  Scool  he  is  at  is  mo  proper  for  to  breed  up 
youths  for  Church  men  than  any  other  station;  I  supos 
my  sons  inclination  will  not  be  for  that  post."  ^  Owners 
of  great  estates  frequently  educated  their  sons  at  home 
under  a  private  tutor ;  and  the  fashion  spread  amongst 
country  gentlemen.  Fielding's  "  Squire  Western "  in 
Tom  Jones  (1749)  embodies  the  failure  of  the  system; 
contemporary  evidence  shows  the  failure  was  not  un- 
common. But  its  success  produced  the  accomplished 
virtuoso  and  man  of  the  world,  whose  powers  had  been 
stimulated  and  strengthened  by  a  residence  of  two  or 
three  years  in  one  of  the  Inns  of  Court,  where  he  found 
access  to  good  society,  the  sojourn  in  London  being 
followed  by  a  prolonged  tour  in  France  and  Italy. 

The  domestic  part  of  this  education  was  a  survival 
from  the  Middle  Ages,  when  the  knight's  training 
customarily  began  by  an  apprenticeship,  first  as  page, 
next  as  squire,  in  the  household  and  service  of  some 
great  noble,  or  prince.  Here  the  novice  learned  the 
management  of  his  horse  and  weapons,  practised 
bodily  exercises,  and  acquired  such  social  accomplish- 
ments as  dancing  and  music ;  the  ladies  of  the  house 
grounded    him   in    good  manners    whilst  he  served    as 

^  On  this  point,  see  Some  Thoughts,  etc.,  sec.  70. 

*  Sargeaunt,  Annals  of  Westminster  School,  p.  289.  Cf. 
Some  Thoughts,  sec.  94  ;  "A  great  part  of  the  learning  now  in 
fashion,"  etc. 


4  JOHN  LOCKE 

page.  The  Renascence  added  a  new  element,  tlie  admira- 
tion of  letters  and  a  desire  for  the  knowledge  to  be  got 
from  books.  The  combination  of  the  medieval  tradition 
with  these  newer  aspirations  found  expression  in  a  series 
of  books  which  expounded  the  "  doctrine  of  courtesy," 
as  the  education  of  the  prince,  nobleman,  and  gentleman 
came  to  be  called.  Castiglione's  Courtier,  the  most 
celebrated  of  the  books  of  courtesy,  is  also  the  earliest 
(1516-1528)  ;  amongst  English  courtesy  books  are  Sir 
Thomas  Elyot's  Ihe  Governour  (1531),  Henry  Peacham's 
The  Compleat  (rentleman  (1622),  Jean  Gailhard's  book 
bearing  a  similar  title  (1678),  and  Stephen  Penton's 
The  Guardian's  ImtriLctor  (1688).^  Milton's  Of  Educa- 
tion (1644)  and  Locke's  Some  TJiouyhts  concerning 
Education  and  Of  the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding  are 
written  from  a  very  similar  standpoint.  The  main 
principles  of  this  new  type  of  education  are  stated  by 
Montaigne,  particularly  in  the  essays,  De  V Institution  des 
Enfant s  and  Du  Pedantisme  (1580). 

The  kind  of  education  advocated  in  these  books  was 
beyond  the  resources  of  the  school;  and,  though 
instruction  in  the  many  branches  of  knowledge  which  it 
required  could  in  Locke's  day  be  had  in  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  mainly  from  private  teachers,  the  official 
course  of  university  education  was  quite  unlike  it.  In 
France,  private  enterprise,  or  munificence,  opened 
"  academies  "  which  were  expressly  intended  to  educate 
after  the  pattern  of  the  doctrine  of  courtesy;  and  these 
late  sixteenth  and  early  seventeenth  century  institutions 
had  many  German  imitators.  Persistent  attempts  were 
made  throughout  the  seventeenth  century  to  establish 
academies  of  a  like  kind  in  England,  but  they  all  failed. 
Milton  wrote  the  tractate  already  mentioned  to  advocate 
the  foundation  of  an  academy,  Avhich  would  make  it 
needless  for  Englishmen  to  seek  courtly  breeding  in 
a  foreign  land. 

The  academies   laid  great  stress  upon   the   value  of 

^  Locke  seems  to  have  had  the  books  of  Gailhard  and  Penton  by 
him  when  he  wrote  Some  Thoughts. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

modern  studies,  especially  in  languages  and  history  ; 
physical  exercises,  dancing,  music,  and  social  amenities 
generally  were  integral  parts  of  their  course.  The 
seventeenth-century  amateur  commonly  cherished  some 
form  of  handwork  as  a  hobby  ;  and  hobbies  were  taught 
in  great  variety  in  some  of  the  academies.^  The 
essentially  useful  character  of  a  study  was  thought 
to  be  no  bar  to  its  adoption  in  the  tiaining  of  one  who 
was  to  lead  a  public  life;  on  the  other  hand,  the 
academies  made  little  account  of  exact  scholarship, 
which  they  were  apt  to  stigmatize  as  pedantry.  They 
agreed  with  Locke  in  placing  "  learning  "  last  and  least, 
when  compared  with  virtue,  prudence,  and  good  manners. 
Further,  they  agreed  with  him  in  acting  upon  a  truth 
which  is  too  often  ignored  in  the  present  day,  that 
education  is  a  process  by  no  means  conducted  in  schools 
and  universities  alone,  that  mere  school-work,  as  com- 
monly understood,  cannot  by  itself  educate. 

The  writers  on  courtesy  and  the  founders  of  the 
academies  fully  recognized  that  there  are  other  forms  of 
excellence  than  the  purely  intellectual ;  and,  since 
expense  presented  no  great  difficulty  to  their  pupils, 
they  tried  to  frame  a  curriculum  as  varied  as  human 
capacity  itself.  The  influence  exercised  by  the  doctrine 
of  courtesy,  thus  expounded,  upon  later  educational 
theory  and  practice  has  not  been  at  all  adequately 
realized ;  it  is  significant  that  France  and  Germany,  the 
early  homes  of  the  academies,  modernized  their  courses 
of  study  long  before  such  a  change  was  adopted  by 
England,  where  academies  never  flourished. 

Locke's  place  in  educational  history  cannot  be  appre- 
ciated by  attending  only  to  his  educational  writings,  or 
to  the  march  of  events  in  his  own  country.  During  the 
eighteenth  centur}^  there  was  much  theorizing  concerning 
education  in  France  and  Germany,  followed  by  attempts, 
more  or  less  successful,  to  translate  theory  into  practice. 
At  the  root  of  most  of  this  theorizing  lay  the  conceptions 
belonging  to  Locke's  philosophy,  particularly  as  this  is 
^  '   C/.  Some  Thoughts,  sees.  201-209. 


6  JOHN  LOCKE 

set  forth  in  An  Essay  concerning  Human  Understandimj , 
a  hook  which,  after  nearly  twenty  years  of  intermittent 
labour,  was  published  in  1690. 

The  leading  ])robleni  proposed  in  the  Essaij  is  an  inquiry 
"  into  the  original  [origin},  certainty,  and  extent  of  human 
knowledge.''  Waiving  the  metaphysical  considerations 
which  that  inquiry  suggests,  and  starting  from  the  ob- 
servable phenomena  of  consciousness,  Locke  treats  his 
^prol^m  as_4irimarilyLa  psychologicaLone,  a  question  as 
to  the  origin  of  mind-£Q?^tentj^ or,  in  his^own  phrase,  "of 
Ideas."  His  first^'onclusion  is  tliat  the  j^hild^S.  mental 
condition  at  birth  is  appropriately  figured  by  "  white 
paper,  void  of  all  characters,"^  or,  as  it  was  afterwards 
expressed  in  8ome  Thoughts,  "wax  to  be  moulded  and 
fashioned  as  one  pleases."^  Amongst  other  things  the 
similes  were  intended  to  deny^_that_iimi  is  born  in  pos- 
session of  an  equipment  of  general_jprinciples  which 
spontaneously  reveal  themselves  as  occasion  offers.  "  It 
is  an  established  opinion  amongst  some  men  that  there 
are  in  the  understanding  certain  innate  principles,  some 
primary  notions,  kolvoI  evvoiaij'^  characters  as  it  were 
stamped  upon  the  mind  of  man,  which  the  soul  receives 
in  its  very  first  being  and  brings  into  the  world  with  it."^ 
Against  this  established  opinion  Locke  maintained  his 
figure  of  the  blank  sheet  or  tabula  rasa ;  ideas  as  they 
existed  in  an  ihdiYidTi:ST~miiTd""were"the  Consequence  of 
that  mind's  individual  history.  Experience  is  the  writer 
who  covers  the  blank  sheet  with  characters,  the  sculptor 
who  moulds  the  wax  into  well-defined  shapes. 

"  Whence  comes  [the  mind]  by  that  vast  store  which 
the  busy  and  boundless  fancy  of  man  has  painted  on  it 

*  Essay,  ii.,  chap,  i.,  sec.  2. 

'  Sec.  216.  Locke  is  inconsistent  in  his  use  of  this  simile,  which 
attributes  everything  to  nurture,  nothing  to  Nature.  A  comparison 
of  passages  shows  that  Locke  was  disposed  to  magnify  the  effects  of 
nurture  above  those  of  Nature,  without  entirely  ignoring  the  latter. 
Compare  the  following :  Conduct,  sees.  2  and  4 ;  and  Some 
Thoughts,  sees.  66,  101,  139,  176. 

3  Thoughts  common  to  all  men. 

*  Essay,  i.,  chap,  ii.,  sec.  1. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

with  an  almost  endless  variety  ?  Whence  has  it  all  the 
materials  of  reason  and  knowledge  ?  To  this  I  answer  in 
one  word,  from  o?fpariRn(,;e ;  in  that  all  our  knowledge  is 
founded,  and  from  that  it  ultimately  derives  itself.  Our 
observation,  employed  either  about  external  sensible" 
objects,  or  about  the  internal  operations  of  our  minds, 
perceived  and  reflected  on  by  ourselves^  is  that  which 
suppHes  our_understandings  with  all__the_materia,Ia.-^f 
thinking,.  These  two~are  the Itountains  of  knowledge, 
from  whence  all  t.he  ideas  we  have,  or  can  naturally  have, 
do  spring.  First,  our  senses,  conversant  about  particular 
sensible  objects,  do  convey  into  the  mind  several  distinct 
perceptions  of  things,  according  to  those  various  Avays 
wherein  those  objects  do  affect  them  [i.e.  the  senses].  .  .  . 
This  great  source  of  most  of  the  ideas  we  have,  depending 
wholly  upon  our  senses  and  derived  from  them  to  the 
understanding,  I_call  -Sensatioii.  Secondly^  the  other 
fountain  from  which  experience  furnisheth  the  under- 
standing with  ideas,  is  the  perception  of  the  operations— 
of  our  own  mind  within  uh,  as  it  is  employed  about  the 
ideas  it  has  got;  which  operations  when  the  soul  comes 
to  reflect  on  and  consider,  do  furnish  the  understanding 
with  another  set  of  ideas  which  could  not  be  had  from 
things  without;  and  such  are  perception,  thinking,  doubt- 
ing, believing,  reasoning,  knowing,  willing,  and  all  the 
different  actings  of  our  own  minds ;  which  we  being  con- 
scious of  and  observing  in  ourselves,  do  from  these  receive 
into  our  understandings  as  distinct  ideas,  as  we  do  from 
bodies  affecting  our  senses.  This  source  of  ideas  every 
man  has  wholly  in  himself;  and  though  it  be  not  sense, 
as  having  nothing  to  do  with  external  objects,  yet  it  is 
very  like  it,  and  might  properly  enough  be  called  internal 
sense.  But  as  I  call  the  other  Sensation,  so  I  call  this 
Reflection."! 

The  dissociation  from  metaphysics,  and  the  experi- 
mental origin  assigned  to  mental  development  and  con- 

^  Essay,  ii.,  chap,  i.,  sees.  2-4.  It  will  be  remarked  that 
mental  representations,  processes,  and  states  are  all  covered  by  the 
one  name — Ideas. 


8  JOHN  LOCKE 

tent  in  these  and  in  similar  passages  of  the  Essay,  l)e- 
came  the  basis  of  the  modern  study  of  psychology,  which 
may  be  said  to  date  from  the  publication  of  that  work ; 
the  comparative  method,  which  plays  a  conspicuous  part 
in  the  study  to-day,  is  anticipated  in  principle  l)y  the 
casual  though  frequent  references  which  Locke  there 
makes  to  the  mental  processes  of  children,^  of  savages, 
and  of  idiots.  Although  he  is  careful  to  assign  two 
'^ fountains"  to  experience — namely,  sensation  and  reflec- 
tion—  the  stress  of  Locke's  exposition  falls  to  excess  upon 
the  first-named,  and  it  is  therefore  riot  surprising  that  he 
is  sometimes  regarded  as  the  originator  of  a  sensationalist 
rather  than  an  experiential  psychology.  The  misin^er- 
pretation  is^tjie  easier  on  account  of  the  confusion  between 
Mdeas,  processes,  and  states  for  which  Locke  is  himself 
responsible;  the  later  eighteenth -century  educational 
theorists  for  the  most  part  assume  a  purely  sensationalist  " 
origin  for  the  whole  mental  life.  ' 

/"^  One  of  the  most  characteristic  features  of  the  Essay^^s 
\  its  uncoin promising  attitude  towards  dogmatism  and  the 
A  construction  of  abstract  systems  generally;  its  method 
/  demands  a  close  adherence^O  realitjL,  and  full  allowance 
\^or    the  Insults    of   concrete  thinking.     The   claims   of 
authority  are  confronted  by  the  assertion  of  the  absolute 
nQcessJty^  for  independence  ofjnind.     "  Not  that  I  want 
a  due  respect  to  oibher  men^s  opinions ;  but  after  all  the 
greatest  reverence  is  due  to  truth  ;  and  I  hope  it  will  not 
be  thought  arrogance  to  say,  that    perhaps  we  should 
make  greater  progress  in  the  discovery  of  rational  and 
contemplative  knowledge,  if  we  sought  it  in  the  fountain 
and    made  use  rather  of  our  own  thoughts  than  other 
men's  to  find  it ;  for  I  think  we  may  as  rationally  hope 
to  see  with  other  men's  eyes  as  to  know  by  other  men's 
understandings.     So  much  as  we  ourselves  consider  and 
comprehend  of  truth  and  reason,  so  much  we  possess  of 
real  and  true  knowledge.     The  floating  of  other  men's 

*  The  reader  will  also  note  the  frequent  occurrence  in  Some 
Thoughts  of  anecdotes  of  children — e.g.,  sees.  78,  166,  178,  and  in 
the  dedication  to  Clarke. 


INTRODUCTION  9 

opinions  in  our  brains  makes  us  not  one  jot  the  more 
knowing,  though  they  happen  to  be  true.  What  in 
them  was  science  is  in  us  but  opiniatrety/  whilst  we 
give  up  our  assent  only  to  reverend  names,  and  do  not, 
as  they  did,  employ  our  own  reason  to  understand  those 
truths  which  gave  them  reputation." - 

Locke  is  here  asserting  the  sufficiency  of  reason  for 
the    discovery    of    truth,    and    the    obligation    of    each 
individual  mind  to  employ  reason  for  that  purpose,  two 
principles,  rationalism   and   individualism,   which   made 
great    play  in  the  life  of   the  eighteenth    century,  and 
especially  in  the  prevalent  conceptions  respecting  educa-    "^ 
tion.     Locke   thus_J)ecame  the  prophet  of    rationalism 
and  the  originator  of  teaching  which  .proved  to  be   a 
greater^olvent  than  he  at  all  realized.^    He  Tiirtiself  wa;s[^ 
aTconvinced  believer  in  the  truth  of  revealed  religion,   l*" 
and,  amongst  other  writings  on  the  subject,  produced  in 
1695    an    Essay   on   the   Beasonahleness    [characteristic 
word  !]    of   Christianity  as  delivered   in  the   8cripttires, 
which  became  an  object  of  controversy  to  some  of  the 
orthodox.     Yet  the  pi4neipl©a_of  the  Essay  on  Human  _ 
Understanding  were  a  principal  cause  of  4he  subsequeTitr 

En~glishrdeism,  and  of  ffiataUitiide-towards  all  assertions 

of  the  supernatural  which  Jias,  marked  French  thought 
siiTce^etiffieofTjoc^e's  admirer  and^ 
IndeecT,  Locked  discussion  of  the  problem  of  knowledge, 
owing  to  its  fundamental  incompleteness,  leads  straight 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  problem  is  unanswerable,  that 
certainty  is  unattainable,  and  that  scepticism  on  all 
subjects  is  the  only  consistent  position  open  to  the 
philosopher.  The  Essay  does  not  indeed  go  so  far  as 
this,  although  a  sceptical  temper  is  not  without  illustra- 
tion in  its  pages.  "  But  whilst  we  are  destitute  of  senses 
acute  enough  to  discover~the^  imnute  particles  of  bodies 
and  to  give  us  ideas  of  their  mechanical  affections,  we 
must  be  content  to  be  ignorant  of  their  properties  and 
ways  of  operation ;  nor  can  we  be  assured  about  them 

^  I.e.,  obstinate  adherence  to  one's  own  opinion. 
2  Essay,  i.,  c'lapi  iv.,  sec.  23.     Cf.  Conduct,  sec.  24. 


10  JOHN  LOCKE 

any  farther  than  some  few  trials  we  make  are  able  to 
reach.  But  whether  they  will  .succeed  again  another  time 
we  cannot  he  certain.  This  hinders  our  certain  know- 
ledge of  universal  truths  concerning  natural  bodies,  and 
our  reason  carries  us  herein  very  little  beyond  particular 
matter  of  fact.  And  therefore  I  am  apt  to  doubt  how 
far  soever  human  industry  may  advance  useful  and 
experimental  philosophy  in  physical  things,  scientifical 
will  be  still  out  of  our  reach."  ^  This  inherent  scepticism 
was  evident  from  the  first  to  some  of  Locke's  opponents, 
though  not  to  all ;  it  became  manifest  a  generation  after 
Locke's  death  in  the  teaching  of  David  Hume,  and  in 
that  form  aroused  Kant  to  controvert  it. 

The  influence  of  Descartes  upon  French  thought  did 
not  yield  at  once  to  the  philosophy  of  the  Englishman 
who  supplanted  him.  "  It  took  more  than  twenty  years 
to  sell  off  the  first  edition  of  the  French  translation  [of 
the  Essay],  but  from  1723  to  1758  editions  followed  one 
another  in  rapid  succession  at  intervals  of  about  six 
years.^  Voltaire  had  been  a  serious  student  of  Bacon, 
Locke,  and  Newton  during  his  exile  in  this  country, 
from  1726  to  1729  ;  in  1734  Europe  received  the  result 
of  his  studies  in  the  Lettres  sur  les  Anglais.  Locke's 
teaching  was  also  made  familiar  in  foreign  philosophical 
circles  by  Condillac's  Origine  des  Connaissances  humaines 
(1746)  and  Traite  des  Sensations  (1754).  From  this 
period  onwards  the  sensationalist  element  of  Locke's 
psychology  speedily  made  its  way  abroad,  till  it  became 
the  philosophical  creed  of  the  French  and  German 
"  intellectuals,"  thus  giving  a  new  and  much  more 
extended  lease  of  life  to  doctrines  which  were  not  com- 
plete novelties  to  the  countrymen  of  Montaigne,  Bayle, 
and  Fontenelle. 

It  is  true  that  the  half -century  between  the  accession 
of  Frederick  the  Great  in  1740  and  the  death  of  Joseph  II. 
of  Austria  is  usually  known  by  the  German  name   "  die 

^  Essay,  iv.,  chap,  iii.,  sees.  25-26.     Cf.  Some  Thoughts,  sees. 
190,  193. 
^  Fowler's  Locke,  p.  7. 


INTRODUCTION  11 

Auf  klarung/'  the  Enlightenment ;  but  the  master  ideas 
of  this  Age  of  Reason  are  those  of  Locke  as  interpreted 
by  the  French  Rationalists.  Locke  pokes  fun  at  the 
definition,  "  Homo,  animal  rationale,^^  but  the  phrase 
admirably  expresses  one  of  his  firmest  convictions.^  A 
combination  of  the  experiential  psychology  with  philan- 
thropic sentiment  and  the  belief  in  man's  essential 
rationality  was  bound  to  issue  in  schemes  of  educational 
change ;  if  all  men  are  initially  equal  (one  fahula  rasa  is 
like  all  the  others)  and  subsequent  differences  are  due 
solely  to  experience,  then  education,  a  beneficent  form 
of  expetience,  is  capable  of  effecting  unlimited  reform 
in  those  submitted  to  it. 

Two  of  the  most  remarkable  educational  treatises  or\ 
the  eighteenth  century,  Rousseau's  Emile  (1762)  and  the  ] 
Essai   d' Educatimi   Nationale    (1763)    of   La    Chalotais,  / 
adopt  Locke's  teaching  on  the  genesis  of  mental  content  | 
and  apply  it  to  their  theme.     The  differences  between 
the  educational  doctrines  of  Locke  and  Pestalozzi  (1746- 
1827)  are  greater  than  the  agreements ;  but  the  latter's 
most  distinctive  principle  of  method  is  merely  an  explicit 
statement  of  Locke's  implied  canon,  that  teaching  should 
be  based  on  first-hand  expf>rip'Tif'^      All  these  thinkers 
emphasized  the  truth  that  educational  purposes  and  pro- 
cesses must  wait  on  mental  development,   and   not  on 
aims  and  methods  foreign  to  it.    In  Locke's  philosophical 
teaching  is  found  the  source  of   the  principles  so  fre- 
quently repeated^ since  his  time,  that  the  sense-organs  of 
children   should   be    exercised  in  school,  that   learners 
should  follow  the  path  marked  by  discoverers,  and  that 
they  should  be  habituated  to  objects  and  to  processes 
rather  than  to  names  andvLords.  "" 

Locke's  professedly  educational  writings  have  proved 
much  less  influential  on  the  great  scale  than  has  his 
philosophy ;  yet  they  touch  the  present  condition  of 
English  education  more  closely.  They  include  one  or 
two  brief  tracts  and  some  letters  of  advice,  whose 
substance  is  incorporated,  either  in  the  great  Essay  or 
'   Cf.  Some  Thoughts,  sees.  31,  33,  122  adfiv. 


12  JOHN  LOCKE 

ill  his  two  educational  treatises.  The  fragment  on 
"  Study/'  ^  written  in  Locke's  journal  during  his  French 
tour  (November,  1675,  to  April,  1679),  shows  him  medi- 
tating upon  themes  which  he  treated  at  length  in  the 
Conduct  and  in  the  Essay.  Some  TJiougJds  concerning 
Readiiig  mid  Study  for  a  Gentleman^  is  chiefly  interest- 
ing as  a  summary  of  a  fireside  conversation  taken  down 
from  Locke's  dictation.  Its  general  statements  present 
nothing  new  to  the  reader  of  the  two  books  on  education 
to  be  noticed  immediately.  Locke  here  recommends 
authors  or  books  upon  oratory,  morals,  politics,  history, 
law,  geography,  travel,  chronology,  dictionaries  or  books 
of  reference,  and  helles  lettres,  the  last  division  contain- 
ing nothing  purely  English.  As  a  writer  on  education, 
Locke's  fame  rests  upon  Some  Thoughts  concerning 
Education,  first  published  in  1^3,  and  the  incomplete 
and  unre vised  Of  the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding, 
which  first  appeared  in  the  posthumous  edition  of 
Locke's  works  published  in  1706. 

In  April,  1697,  Locke  wrote  as  follows  to  William 
Molyneux  :  "  I  have  lately  got  a  little  leisure  to  think  of 
some  additions  to  my  book  [the  Essay]  against  the  next 
edition,  and  within  these  few  days  have  fallen  upon  a 
subject  that  I  know  not  how  far  it  will  lead  me.  I  have 
written  several  pages  on  it,  but  the  matter,  the  farther  I 
go,  opens  the  more  upon  me,  and  I  cannot  yet  get  sight 
of  any  end  of  it.  The  title  of  the  chapter  will  be  '  Of 
the  Conduct  of  the  Understanding,'  which,  if  I  shall 
pursue  as  far  as  I  imagine  it  will  reach,  will,  I  conclude, 
make  the  largest  chapter  of  my  Essay."  ^  The  short 
treatise  was  written  to  serve  as  a  manual  of  self-instruc- 
tion, which  should  do  for  young  men  what,  in  Locke's 
opinion,  the  customary  text  book  of  logic  quite  failed  to 
do  for  the  undergraduate.  From  that  point  of  view  it 
has  lost  none  of  its  vitality. 

^  Lord  King,  Life  and  Letters  of  Locke,  1858,  p.  92  ff.  See 
also  Quick's  edition  of  Some  Thoughts  concerning  Education 
p.  191. 

2  Locke,  Works,  1812,  vol.  iii.  3  Works,  1812,  vol.  x.,  p.  407. 


INTRODUCTION  13 

The  Condiict  is  complementary  to  8ome  Thoughts,  and 
is  therefore  indispensable  to  an  understanding  of  Locke's 
ideas  respecting  education.  In  the  latter  book  Locke 
is  at  times  overshadowed  by  his  authorities,  and  his 
attention  is  challenged  by  conventional  standards.  But 
in  the  Conduct  he  is  entirely  himself  j  the  one  problem 
is,  how  best  to  cultivate  the  rational  element  in  man, 
a  problem  with  which  Locke  conceived  neither  school- 
masters nor  tutors  have  much  concern,  since  it  can  only 
be  effectively  taken  in  hand  when  their  reign  is  ended. 
As  a  gentleman's  vade-mecum,  the  Conduct,  especially 
when  read  in  conjunction  with  the  later  sections  of 
Some  Thoughts,^  may  be  fairly  ranked  amongst  the  long 
line  of  English  "  courtesy  "  books. 

Although  Some  Thoughts  concerning  Education  now 
ranks  as  one  of  the  few  English  classics  on  its  theme, 
its  author  did  not  regard  it,  originally  at  least,  as  a 
deliberately  planned  or  exhaustive  work.  "While  I  was 
in  Holland,  I  employed  some  leisure  hours  in  writing 
letters  to  a  friend  to  help  him  in  the  training  of  his  little 
boy.  The  treatise  that  has  grown  out  of  these  has  been 
translated  into  French  and  Dutch."  ^  The  sojourn  in 
Holland  here  mentioned  is  the  period  of  exile  which 
Locke  suffered  between  August  or  September,  1683, 
and  February,  1689,  when  he  returned  in  Queen  Mary's 
train.  The  "  friend"  is  the  Edward  Clarke,  subsequently 
M.P.  for  Taunton,  to  whom  Some  Tlwughts  is  dedicated. 
At  the  request  of  friends,  the  letters  Avere  transformed 
into  the  "treatise"  and  published  early  in  1693.  The 
book  reached  its  fourth  edition  in  1699,  and  the  sixth 
appeared  in  the  year  following  the  author's  death.  As 
early  as  1695  Pierre  Coste  produced  a  French  translation, 
which  ran  through  five  editions  at  least ;  a  Dutch  version 
was  issued  in  1698,  a  Swedish  translation  followed  in 
1709,  and  there  were  translations  into  Grerraan  (1729, 
1787)  and  Italian  (1763,  fifth  edition  1782).  The  demand 
for  the  book  amongst  the  educated  classes  was  met  by 

1  E.g.,  sees.  94,  141-143,  185-187,  193,  196-199,  201-904,  206-216. 

2  Locke  to  Thoynard,  March,  1698. 


14  JOHN  LOCKE 

the  version  in  French,  the  then  common  language  of  the 
Continent;  the  other  translations  were  for  the  benefit 
of  a  less  instructed,  but  more  numerous,  class  of  readers. 

8ome  Thoughts  no  doubt  is  indebted  to  its  author's 
experience  as  a  teacher  at  Oxford,  and  as  superintendent 
of  the  third  Earl  of  Shaftesbury's  education;^  it  owes 
much  more  to  his  reading,  thought,  and  general  know- 
ledge of  men  and  affairs.  The  conception  of  education 
and  the  methods  of  realizing  it  which  are  stated  in  Some 
Thoughts  are  also  to  be  found  in  Montaigne's  Essais,  more 
particularly  in  the  two  essays  already  named.  The  array 
of  parallel  passages  from  the  two  writers,  reprinted  from 
F.  A.  Arnstaedt's  FranQois  Rabelais,  by  Quick  in  his 
edition  of  Some  Thoughts,  is  entirely  misleading.  The 
references  to  the  Thoughts  in  this  list  are  gathered  from 
Coste's  later  translations,  where  they  are  not  advanced 
as  exhausting  the  parallels;  and  since  Coste  in  his  later 
editions  divided  the  text  into  chapters  and  renumbered 
the  sections,  a  comparison  of  the  Essals  and  any  English 
edition  of  Some  Thoughts  with  the  help  of  Arnstaedt's  lists, 
only  serves  to  throw  doubt  on  Locke's  debt  to  the  French 
writer.  But  this  laborious  mode  of  comparison  is  quite 
unnecessary  to  anyone  who  considers  the  general  attitude 
of  both  writers  to  their  subject,  the  objects  which  they 
set  before  themselves,  and  the  means  adopted  to  attain 
them.  Isolated  passages,  thoughts,  and  phrases  only 
serve  to  confirm  a  proposition  which  a  more  general  survey 
renders  obvious  enough.  That  Locke  was  an  advocate 
for  an  extended  and  modernized  course  of  studies  is  so 
evident  that  the  topic  will  not  be  further  pressed.'^ 

From  the  standpoint  of  method  the  most  striking 
features  of  Some  Thoughts  are  the  insistence  on  the 
educational  function  of  play,^  the  part  assigned  to  utility 

*  See  Fox  Bourne,  The  Life  of  John  Locke,  vol.  i.,  pp.  422,  423. 

2  See  sec.  169  ff. 

^  See  sees.  130,  152  154,  and  compare  Montaigne,  Essay  on 
Custom  (bk.  i.,  chap.  22)  :  "  We  should  note  that  children's  games 
are  not  games;  we  ought  to  regard  them  as  their  most  serious 
occupations." 


INTRODUCTION  15 

in  determining  the  choice  of  studies,  and  the  principle 
that  the  learning  of  young  children  should  be  acquired 
by  the  active  employment  of  the  organs  of  sense  rather 
than  through  information  supplied  by  books  or  teachers. 
It  is  a  cardinal  principle  with  both  Montaigne  and  Locke 
that  the  child  should  not  be  compelled  to  learn.^  Extra- 
vagant as  the  statement  seems,  there  is  reason  behind  it, 
and  its  later  application  to  practice  makes  it  necessary 
to  give  it  attention. 

His  knowledge  of  the  current  school  practice  taught 
Locke  that  the  child^s  special  aptitudes  and  capacities 
were  ignored  by  the  curriculum,  his  rote-memory  was 
overtaxed  by  things  which  yielded  little  spontaneous 
interest,  and  he  was  made  to  labour  against  the  grain 
by  fear  of  the  rod.  Learning  was  imposed  arbitrarily, 
and  therefore  tended  to  become  irksome.  Locke  realized 
that  no  really  effective  learning  could  take  place  till  the 
pupiFs  will  had  been  evoked,  and  he  knew  that  no  motive 
could  give  greater  stimulus  than  the  desire  to  learn,  while 
learning  itself  cannot  be  done  by  proxy.  The  principle 
involved  is  one  which  filled  so  great  a  place  in  FroebeFs 
theory  of  method,^  and  which  made  play  so  prominent 
an  instrument  of  his  practice.  Locke  was  not  so  inex- 
perienced as  to  believe  that  all  objects  are  equally  success- 
ful in  arousing  spontaneous  interest,  and  he  recognized 
that  children  must  sometimes  be  required  to  attend  to 


things_wh|ch_do  not  pos.aeaa-^ intrinsic,  chaian.  Even  so 
he  remains  true  to  principle,  and  advises  the  teacher  to 
prepare  the  way  in  these  cases  by  recalling  to  the  pupil's 
mind  suitable  ideas  or  by  appealing  to  his  "  likes  "  and 
"  dislikes."  ^  Still,  it  must  be  admitted  that  Locke  does 
not  help  us  much  by  direct  recommendation  to  get  the 

^  See  Some  Thoughts,  sees.  72-74,  84,  103,  123,  128,  148,  149, 
167,  202  ;  for  the  hint  of  a  sounder  principle,  see  sees.  126,  127. 

^  "  Regarded  in  the  light  of  their  origin  and  first  principles, 
education,  instruction  and  doctrine  must  of  necessity  be  passive, 
following — guarding,  merely,  and  sheltering  —  not  prescribing, 
determining,  encroaching." — Froebel,  The  Education  of  Human 
Nature,  i.  7  (1826). 

3  Cf.  Some  Thoughts,  sees.  74,  126,  127. 


1«  JOHN  LOCKE 

boy  to  adopt  the  maxim,  "  Duty  for  duty's  sake."  He 
probably  thought  it  beyond  the  reach  of  the  child,  and 
trusted  to  the  general  character  of  the  training  given  to 
implant  it  later  and  in  due  course.  But  Locke's  state- 
ment of  this  sound  principle  was  open  to  misconstruc- 
tion, and  it  was,  in  fact,  perverted  by  later  writers,  like 
Basedow,  who  made  learning  synonymous  with  amuse- 
ment, and  therefore  thought  it  necessary  to  coax  and 
wheedle  children  into  learning.  The  doctrine  of  interest 
often  suffers  the  same  perversion  to-day,  and  the  perver- 
sion is  made  to  excuse  modes  of  instruction  whose  tendency 
is  wholly  mischievous.  Not  amusement  nor  distraction, 
but  the  desire  to  effect  some  cherished  purpose  is  the 
strongest  motive  that  can  move  the  learner. 

Locke's  advocacy  of  the  principle  of  utility  had  a 
similar  result.  "  I  think  that  the  time  and  pains  allotted 
to  serious  improvements  should  be  employed  about  things 
of  most  use  and  consequence,  and  that  too  in  the  methods 
the  most  easy  and  short." '  This  reads  like  a  platitude 
until  we  ponder  on  the  words  "use"  and  "consequence," 
and  require  examples  of  the  short  and  easy  methods  con- 
templated. Basedow  inferred  that  every  subject  of  study 
and  every  jpart  of  a  subject  which  could  not  be  turned  to 
practical  account  should  be  discarded  by  the  school-master. 
In  his  recommendations  respecting  the  education  of  a 
prince,  he  advises  the  omission  of  algebra  and  theology, 
i)ut  includes  dancing  and  riding  as  useful  arts  indispen- 
sable to  a  sovereign.  The  Latin  taught  in  Basedow's 
institute  at  Dessau  was  "current  Latin,"  indistinguish- 
able from  the  canine  sort.  There  was  no  instruction  in 
Grreekj  "we  already  have  one  learned  tongue  too  many." 
The  studies  retained  were  those  which  Locke  calls  "  real 
knowledge."  Handwork  had  a  place  in  the  school  exer- 
cises ;  but,  practically  useful  though  it  was,  it  came  into 
conflict  with  Basedow's  other  touchstone  of  method, 
amusement,  and  ended  by  being  employed  as  a  form  of 
punishment. 

Extravagances  such  as  these  combined  with  Basedow's 

*  Some  Thoughts,  sec.  197. 


INTRODUCTiON  1"? 

incapacity  tor  managing  men^  or  institutions,  brought  his 
work  to  an  end  long  before  his  death.  Yet  he  stimulated 
an  interest  in  public  education  which  was  already  vigor- 
ous amongst  the  princes  and  statesmen  of  Germany  and 
Northern  Europe.  His  experiments  won  the  approval  of 
Kant,  and  he  was  the  adviser  of  Zedlitz,  the  minister  who 
reformed  Prussian  education,  and  of  Rochow,  the  "Prus- 
sian Pestalozzi."  Basedow  was  therefore  one  of  the  most 
influential  persons  in  the  sphere  of  public  education  during 
the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  thus  be- 
came a  channel  by  which  Locke  affected  the  educational 
theory  and  practice  of  Germany.^ 

Notwithstanding  his  championship  of  "real  know- 
ledge "  and  his  contempt  for  "  words,"  most  of  Locke's 
directions  of  the  practical  sort  relate  to  the  study  of 
language.  He  gives  excellent  advice  respecting  the  way 
in  which  a  boy  may  be  trained  to  write  and  speak  the 
mother  tongue.  The  best  modern  practice  is  but  an 
elaboration  of  what  stands  written  in  Some  Thoughts.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  if  we  were  to  base  our  judgment  on 
that  book  alone,  we  should  say  that  in  1693  England 
possessed  no  literature  worthy  of  the  name.  Two  English 
writers  only  are  singled  out  for  mention  as  authors  whose 
Avorks  should  be  read.  Ralph  Cudworth  bears  a  name 
which  is  still  honourably  associated  with  English  philos- 
ophy ;  but  Chilling  worth,  a  controversial  divine  praised 
by  Locke  as  a  model  of  logical  thinking,  is  now  almost 
forgotten.^  When  one  remembers  Locke's  scorn  for  the 
"  poetic  vein  "  ^  and  the  sourness  of  his  regard  for  the  fine 
arts,  it  is  scarcely  surprising  that,  in  a  work  on  the  educa- 

^  Johann  Bernhard  Basedow  (1724-1790)  opened  the  first  Philan- 
thropinuin  at  Dessau  in  1774  in  order  to  carry  out  principles  of 
education  enunciated  by  Comenius,  Locke,  and  La  Chalotais. 
Schools  in  imitation  of  it  were  opened  in  other  parts  of  Germany 
and  in  Switzerland,  but  the  rhilanthropinist  movement  was  a 
failure  owing  to  its  extravagances  of  principle  and  practice. 

2  Sees.  168,  171,  172,  and  particularly  189.  Most  of  Locke's 
recommendations  on  the  teaching  of  foreign  languages,  Latin 
included,  have  reappeared  in  later  educational  history. 

^  Sotne  Thoughts,  sees.  188,  193. 

*  Ibid.,  sec.  174 ;  but  cf.  Conduct,  sec.  4. 

2 


18  JOHN  LOCKE 

tion  of  an  English  gentleman,  there  is  no  reference  to 
Shakspere,  Spenser,  or  Milton.  The  brief  Sonw  Thoughts 
concerning  Beading  and  Study  fof  «-  Gentleman  names 
more  than  eighty  writers  or  works,  mostly  foreign;  but 
none  of  these  great  names  is  included,  though  Don.  Qnirote 
is  ranked  as  unequalled  amongst  "all  the  books  of  fiction." 
Locke  apparently  failed  to  see  that  English  literature  in 
his  day  afforded  that  very  knowledge  of  life  to  which  he 
attached  the  highest  importance.  He  seems  to  have  been 
by  constitution  deficient  in  appreciation  for  imaginative 
work,  when  he  was  not  suspicious  that  its  tendency  was 
irrational. 

The  practical  teacher  will  endorse  what  is  said  in 
Some  Thoughts  respecting  the  exercise  of  rote-memory 
(sections  175-176),  and  the  best  mode  of  sustaining  a 
pupil's  attention  (section  167)  :  Locke  here  anticipates 
and  expresses  concisely  much  of  the  best  writing  on 
these  topics.  Although  he  says  nothing  directly  con- 
cerning the  education  of  girls,  the  references  to  them 
which  occur  in  sections  6  and  9  seem  susceptible  of  a 
wider  application,  and  they  incline  one  to  believe  that 
Locke  did  not  entirely  approve  the  custom  of  his  day 
which  gave  girls  an  inferior  education  to  that  given  to 
boys.  The  charge  of  want  of  sympathy  with  women  is 
not  sustained  by  our  knowledge  of  Locke's  private  life ; 
it  is  certain  that  he  speaks  with  respect  when  alluding 
to  cultivated  women,  and  governesses  appear  in  his  pages 
as  capable  persons  who  compare  very  favourably  indeed 
with  professional  schoolmasters.^ 

There  is  no  question  in  Some  Thoughts  of  the  instruc- 
tion of  great  numbers  of  the  people ;  it  deals  not  with 
popular  education,  but  with  the  breeding  of  children 
destined  to  occupy  positions  of  social  prominence.  Yet 
it  was  impossible  that  Locke,  writing  on  such  a  subject, 
should  restrict  himself  to  a  narrow  outlook,  and  so  fre- 
quently are  his  remarks  of  general  application  that  his 
main  purpose  in  writing  the  book  is  often  forgotten  by 
his  readers. 

1  Cf.  Some  Thoughts,  sees.  168,  177,  189. 


INTRODUCTION  19 

What  his  views  were  with  respect  to  the  education 
of  the  very  poor  can  be  learned  on  reference  to  his 
memorandum  on  reform  of  the  Poor  Law,  drawn  up  in 
1697,  when  he  was  "a  commissioner  of  trade  and  planta- 
tions/'^ It  must  be  remembered  that  this  was  written 
before  the  foundation  of  the  Charity  Schools,  which,  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  demonstrated  the  feasibility  of  a 
system  of  popular  schools  under  central  direction  and 
local  management.  Locke's  proposal  was  in  effect  one 
for  the  general  adoption  in  rural  districts  of  the  work- 
house "  schools  "  Avhich  had  existed  in  some  town  parishes 
since  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  To  these 
"  working  schools "  Locke  would  send  daily  all  pauper 
children  between  the  ages  of  three  and  fourteen,  there 
to  be  taught  "spinning  or  knitting,  or  some  other  part 
of  the  woollen  manufacture,  unless  in  countries  where 
the  place  shall  furnish  other  materials  fitter  for  the 
employment  of  such  poor  children."  Each  child  should 
receive  an  allowance  of  bread  and,  in  winter,  "a  little 
warm  water-gruel " ;  it  is  estimated  that  the  proceeds  of 
a  child's  labour  will  in  the  course  of  years  cover  the 
expense  of  his,  or  her,  teaching  and  partial  maintenance. 
The  only  form  of  instruction  mentioned  in  the  memoran- 
dum (other  than  that  given  in  teaching  the  child  to 
perform  his  manual  task)  is  religious  instruction,  obtained 
by  being  "  obliged  to  come  constantly  to  church  every 
Sunday,  along  with  their  schoolmasters  or  dames,  whereby 
they  may  be  brought  into  some  sense  of  religion."  This 
very  exiguous  course  of  instruction  completely  accords 
with  the  proposition  asserted  in  section  19  of  the  Conduct ; 
"  for  a  man  to  understand  fully  the  business  of  his  par- 
ticular calling  in  the  commonwealth  and  of  religion, 
which  is  his  calling  as  he  is  a  man  in  the  world,  is  usually 
enough  to  take  up  his  whole  time."  It  is  for  the  person 
of  leisure  to  go  farther.^ 

^  Printed  in  Fox  Bourne's  Life  of  John  Locke,  vol.  ii.,  p.  Sll  ff. 
2  Conduct,  sec.  7   ("Those  methinks,   who,  by   the   industry," 
etc.),  the  last  paragraph  of  that  section,  and  sec.  8. 


JOHN  LOCKE 


BOOKS  ON  LOCKE  AND  HIS  PERIOD 

1.  Life  of  Locke  : 

H.  R.  Fox  Bourne :   The  Life  of  John  Locke,  London,  1876. 
T.  Fowler  :  Locke,  in  ''English  Men  of  Letters"  Series. 
A.  C.  Fraser  :  Locke,  in  "  Philosophical  Classics,"  circa  1890. 
E.  Fechner:  John  Locke,  Stuttgart,  1898. 
Ch.  Bastide  :  John  Locke,  Paris,  190'i . 

2.  The  Works  of  John  Locke,  in  ten  volumes,  London,  1812  and 

1823. 

3.  A.  C.  Fraser,  editor :  An  Easai/  concerning  Human  Understand- 

ing,  Oxford,  1894. 

4.  R.  H.  Quick :    Some    Thoughts  concerning  Education,  Cam- 

bridge, 1880,  etc. 
Evan  Daniel :  Some  Thoughts  concerning  Education,  London, 
1880. 

5.  T.  Fowler  :    Locke's   Conduct  of  the    Understanding,  Oxford, 

1880.  etc. 

6.  History  of  Education  during  the  Period  covered  by  the  Introduc- 

tion : 
W.  H.  Woodward  :  Studies  in  Education  during  the  Renais- 
sance, 1400-1600. 
J.  W.  Adamson  :  Pioneers  of  Modern  Education,  1600-1700. 
Oxford    Historical    Society's   Publications,    Collectama,    first 

series,  Oxford,  1885. 
J.  W.  Adamson  :    "  Education "   (1660-1750),  in    Cambridge 

History  of  English  Literature,  vol.  ix. 
A.  Pinloche  :  La  Beforme  de  VEducation  en  Allemagne  au 

18'  Siecle,  Paris,  1889. 
W.  Rein  :  Encijklopadtsches  Handbnch  der  Pa dagogik,  vol.  u, 

sub  voces  "  Aufkliirung  "  and  "  Basedow." 
Foster  Watson  :     The  English  Grammar  Schools  to    1660, 

Cambridge,  1908. 
Foster  Watson  :   The  Beginnings  of  the  Teaching  of  Modem 

Subjects  in  England,  1909. 


SOME   THOUGHTS   CONCERNING 
EDUCATION 

The  text  here  followed  is  that  of  the  first  edition, 
supplemented  bj  passages  from  later  editions  which  are 
historically  interesting,  or  of  special  educational  value  at 
the  present  time  :  such  passages  are  enclosed  in  sqiiare 
brackets.  Summaries  of  insertions  in  later  editions  are 
here  printed  in  italic  type.  Sections  3-28  deal  with  the 
care  of  health;  modern  medical  opinion  does  not  endorse 
all  their  recommendations,  and  they  are  therefore  repre- 
sented here  by  Locke's  summary,  sections  29,  30.  The 
sections  are  numbered  as  in  the  latest  editions,  for  con- 
venience of  reference.  It  has  not  been  thought  advisable 
to  retain  the  original  spelling  and  punctuation. 

TO 

EDWARD   CLARKE, 

OF 

CHIPLEY,  Esq.; 
Sir, 

These  Thoughts  concerning  Education,  which  now 
come  abroad  into  the  world,  do  of  right  belong  to  you, 
being  written  several  years  since  for  your  sake,  and  are 
no  other  than  what  you  have  already  by  you  in  my 
letters.  I  have  so  little  varied  any  thing,  but  only  the 
order  of  what  was  sent  you  at  different  times,  and  on 
several  occasions,  that  the  reader  will  easily  find,  in  the 

21 


22  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

familiarity  and  fashion  of  the  style,  that  they  were 
rather  the  private  conversation  of  two  friends,  than  a 
discourse  designed  for  public  view. 

The  importunity  of  friends  is  the  common  apology  for 
publications  men  are  afraid  to  own  themselves  forward 
to.  But  you  know  I  can  truly  say,  that  if  some,  who, 
having  heard  of  these  papers  of  mine,  had  not  pressed  to 
see  them,  and  afterwards  to  have  them  printed,  they  had 
lain  dormant  still  in  that  privacy  they  were  designed  for. 
But  those  whose  judgment  I  defer  much  to,  telling  me, 
that  they  were  persuaded,  that  this  rough  draft  of  mine 
might  be  of  some  use,  if  made  more  public,  touched  upon 
what  will  always  be  very  prevalent  with  me :  for  I 
think  it  every  man's  indispensable  duty,  to  do  all  the 
service  he  can  to  his  country ;  and  I  see  not  what 
difference  he  puts  between  himself  and  his  cattle,  who 
lives  without  that  thought.  This  subject  is  of  so  great 
concernment,  and  a  right  way  of  education  is  of  so 
general  advantage,  that  did  I  find  my  abilities  answer 
my  wishes,  I  should  not  have  needed  exhortations  or 
importunities  from  others.  However,  the  meanness  of 
these  papers,  and  my  just  distrust  of  them,  shall  not 
keep  me,  by  the  shame  of  doing  so  little,  from  con- 
tributing my  mite,  when  there  is  no  more  required  of  me 
than  my  throwing  it  into  the  public  receptacle.  And  if 
there  be  any  more  of  their  size  and  notions,  who  liked 
them  so  well,  that  they  thought  them  worth  printing,  I 
may  flatter  myself  they  will  not  be  lost  labour  to 
^very  body. 

I  myself  have  been  consulted  of  late  by  so  many,  who 
profess  themselves  at  a  loss  how  to  breed  their  children, 
and  the  early  corruption  of  youth  is  now  become  so 
general  a  complaint,  that  he  cannot  be  thought  wholly 
impertinent,  who  brings  the  consideration  of  this  matter 


DEDICATION  23 

on  the  stage,  and  ofPers  something,  if  it  be  but  to  excite 
others,  or  afford  matter  for  correction ;  for  errors  in 
education  should  be  less  indulged  than  any.  These,  like 
faults  in  the  first  concoction,  that  are  never  mended  in 
the  second  or  third,  carry  their  afterwards-incorrigible 
taint  with  them  through  all  the  parts  and  stations  of 
life. 

I  am  so  far  from  being  conceited  of  anything  I  have 
here  offered,  that  I  should  not  be  sorry,  even  for  your 
sake,  if  some  one  abler  and  fitter  for  such  a  task  would  in 
a  just  treatise  of  education,  suited  to  our  English  gentry, 
rectify  the  mistakes  I  have  made  in  this,  it  being  much 
more  desirable  to  me,  that  young  gentlemen  should  be 
put  into  (that  which  every  one  ought  to  be  solicitous 
about)  the  best  way  of  being  formed  and  instructed,  than 
that  my  opinion  should  be  received  concerning  it.  You 
will,  however,  in  the  meantime  bear  me  witness,  that  the 
method  here  proposed  has  had  no  ordinary  effects  upon 
a  gentleman's  son^  it  was  not  designed  for.  I  will  not 
say  the  good  temper  of  the  child  did  not  very  much 
contribute  to  it ;  but  this  I  think  you  and  the  parents 
are  satisfied  of,  that  a  contrary  usage,  according  to  the 
ordinary  disciplining  of  children,  would  not  have  mended 
that  temper,  nor  have  brought  him  to  be  in  love  with 
his  book,  to  take  a  pleasure  in  learning,  and  to  desire,  as 
he  does,  to  be  taught  more  than  those  about  him  think 
fit  always  to  teach  him. 

But  my  business  is  not  to  recommend  this  treatise  to 

you,  whose  opinion  of  it  I  know  already  ;  nor  it  to  the 

world,  either  by  your  opinion  or  patronage.     The  well 

^educating  of   their  children  is  so  much  the   duty   and 

^  A  reference,  perhaps,  to  Francis  Cudworth  Masham  (b.  1686), 
.    son  of  Sir  Francis  Masham,  the  owner  of  Gates,  Locke's  home  fronj 
1691, 


24  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

concern  of  parents,  and  the  wslfare^and^prosgeritj^of > 

rtlie'natioir^  much  depends  on  it,  that  I  would  have 
every  one  lay  it  seriously  to  heart;  and  after  having 
*~~-ii^V  examined  and  distinguished  what  fancy,  custom,  or 
reason   advises   in   the   case,   set   his    helping   hand    to 
promote  that  way  in  the  several  degrees  of  men,  which 
is  the  easiest,  shortest,  and  likeliest  to  produce  vir_tuous, 
useful,  and  able  men  in  their  distinct  callings.     Though    \ 
that  most  to  be  taken  care  ofJs  the  gentleman^s  calling  •}    J 
for  if  those  of  that  rank  are  by  their  education  once  set   / 
right,  they  will  quickjyiJbring  all  the  rest  into  order.         / 

I  know  not  whether  I  have  done  more  than  shewn  my 
good  wishes  towards  it  in  this  short  discourse ;  such  a-s 
it  is,  the  world  now  has  it,  and  if  there  be  any  thing  in 
it  worth  their  acceptance,  they  owe  their  thanks  to  you 
for  it.  My  affection  to  you  gave  the  first  rise  to  it,  and 
I  am  pleased,  that  I  can  leave  to  posterity  this  mark  of 
the  friendship  that  has  been  between  us.  For  I  know 
.no  greater  pleasure  in  this  life,  nor  abetter  remembrance 
to  be  left  behind  one,  than  a  long-continued  friendship 
with  an  honest,  useful,  and  worthy  man,  and  lover  of  his 
country. 

I  am.  Sir, 
Your  most  humble  and  most  faithful  servant. 


^  A  phrase  reminiscent  of  such  "  coQrtesy  "  books  as  The  Gentle- 
man's Calling  (1659),  The  Lady's  Calling,  The  Courtier's  Calling. 
See  Introduction. 


SOME  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

1.  A  SOUND  mind  in  a  somid  body,  is  a  short  but  fullf 
description  of  a  happy  state  m  this  world  :,  he  that  has 
these  two,  has  little  more  to  wish  for,;  and  he  that 
wants  either  of  them,  will  be  but  little  the  better  for 
any  thing  else.  Men's  happiness  or  miseryjs  most  part 
of  their  own  making".  He  whose  mind  directs  not 
Avlsely,  will  never  take  the  right  way ;  and  he  whose 
body  is  crazy  and  feeble,  will  never  be  able  to  advance 
in  itji  I  confess  there  are  some  men's  constitutions  of 
body  and  mind  so  vigorous  and  well  framed  by  nature, 
that  they  need  not  much  assistance  from  others,  but  by 
the  strength  of  their  natural  genius,  they  are  from  their 
cradles  carried  towards  what  is  excellent ;  and,  by  the 
privilege,  of  their  happy  constitutions  are  able  to  do 
wonders.  But  examples  of  these  are  but  few ;  and  I 
think  I  maj  sa^^_thatj_of  all  the  men  jwe  rneet  with^  ninQ 
parts  of  tenure  what  they  are,  good  or  evil,  useful-Xir 
not,  Joy  their  education.  'Tis  that  which  makes  the 
great  difference  in  mankind.  The  little,  and  almost 
insensible  impressions  on  our  tender  infancies,  have 
very  important  and  lasting  consequences ;  and  there 
'tis,  as  in  the  fountains  of  some  rivers,  where  a  gentle 
application  of  the  hand  turns  the  flexible  waters  into 
channels,  that  make  them  take  quite  contrary  conrst^s; 
and  by  this  little  direction,  given  them  at  first  in  ijie 
source,  they  receive  different  tendencies,  and  arrive  at 
last  at  very  remote  and  distant  places.  ~ 

2.  Healths — I  imagine  the  minds  of  children,  as  easily 
turned,  this  or  that  way,  as  Avater  itself ;  and  though 
this  be  the  principal  part,  and  our  main  care  should  be 
about   the    inside,  yet  the   clay  cottage    is    not    to    be 

26 


26  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

neglected.  1  shall  therefore  begin  with  the  case,  and 
cmisider  first  the  health  of  tlip.  Vinfljj  as  that  which 
perhaps  you  may  rather  expect,  from  that  study  I  have 
been  thought  more  peculiarly  to  have  applied  myself 
to;^  and  that  also,  which  will  be  soonest  dispatched, 
as  lying,  if  I  guess  not  amiss,  in  a  very  little  compass. 

Sections  3  to  28  treat  of  health.  For  reasons  already 
given,  they  are  replaced  by  the  author's  summary,  section 
30;  hut  sections  6  and  9  are  retained  for  their  references 
to  girls.     See  note  on  p.  21. 

6.  I  have  said  he  here,  because  the  principal  aim  of 
my  discourse  is,  how  a  young  gentleman  should  be 
brought  up  from  his  infancy,  which  in  all  things  will 
not  so  perfectly  suit  the  education  of  daughters ;  though, 
where  the  difference  of  sex  requires  different  treatment, 
'twill  be  no  hard  matter  to  distinguish. 

9.  ^4tV.— Another  thing  that  is  of  great  advantage  to 
every  one's  health,  but  especially  children's,  is,  to  be 
much  in  the  open  air,  and  very  little,  as  may  be,  by  the 
fire,  even  in  winter.  By  this  he  will  accustom  himself 
also  to  heat  and  cold,  shine  and  rain;  all  which  if  a 
man's  body  will  not  endure,  it  will  serve  him  to  very 
little  purpose  in  this  world:  and  when  he  is  grown  up,  it 
is  too  late  to  begin  to  use  him  to  it :  it  must  be  got  early 
and  by  degrees.  Thus  the  body  may  be  brought  to  bear 
almost  anything.  If  I  should  advise  him  to  play  in  the 
wind  and  sun  without  a  hat,  I  doubt  whether  it  could  be 
borne.  There  would  a  thousand  objections  be  made 
against  it,  which  at  last  would  amount  to  no  more,  in 
truth,  than  being  sun-burnt.  And  if  my  young  master 
be  to  be  kept  always  in  the  shade,  and  never  exposed  to 
the  sun  and  wind,  for  fear  of  his  complexion,  it  may  be  a 
good  way  to  make  him  a  beau,  but  not  a  man  of  business.^ 

^  Cf.  sec.  29.  Locke  practised  medicine  at  Oxford  in  1667,  and 
in  London  with  his  friend,  Dr.  Sydenham,  between  that  year  and 
1670.  Though  commonlj'  known  as  "  Dr.  Locke,"  he  never  pro- 
ceeded beyond  the  M.B.  degree. 

^  I.e.,  a  man  of  affairs. 


9.  AIR— 29.  PHYSIC  27 

And  although  greater  regard  be  to  be  had  to  beauty  in 
the  daughters,  yet  I  will  take  the  liberty  to  say,  that  the 
more  they  are  in  the  air,  without  prejudices  to  their  faces, 
the  stronger  and  healthier  they  will  be :  and  the  nearer 
they  come  to  the  hardships  of  their  brothers  in  their 
education,  the  greater  advantage  will  they  receive  from 
it  all  the  remaining  part  of  their  lives. ^ 

29.  Physic. — -This  is  all  I  have  to  trouble  you  with,  con- 
cerning his  management,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  his 
health ;  and  perhaps  it  will  be  expected  from  me,  that  I 
should  give  some  directions  of  physic,  to  prevent  diseases : 
for  which,  I  have  only  this  one  very  sacredly  to  be  observed : 
Never  to  give  children  any  physic  for  prevention.  'J'he 
observation  of  what  I  have  already  advised,  will,  I  sup- 
pose, do  that  better  than  apothecary's  drugs  and  medi- 
cines. Have  a  great  care  of  tampering  that  way,  lest, 
instead  of  preventing,  you  draw  on  diseases.  Nor  even 
upon  every  little  indisposition  is  physic  to  be  given,  or 
the  physician  to  be  called  to  children;  especially  if  he  be 
a  busy  man,  that  will  presently  fill  their  windows  with 
gally-pots,  and  their  stomachs  with  drugs.  It  is  safer 
to  leave  them  wholly  to  nature,  than  to  put  them  into  the 
hands  of  one  forward  to  tamper,  or  that  thinks  children 
are  to  be  cured  in  ordinary  distempers,  by  anything  but 
diet,  or  by  a  method  very  little  distant  from  it.  It  seem- 
ing suitable  both  to  my  reason  and  experience,  that  the 
tender  constitutions  of  children  should  have  as  little  done 
to  them  as  is  possible,  and  as  the  absolute  necessity  of  the 
case  requires.  A  little  cold-stilled  red  poppv-waterl  which 
is  the  true  surfeit-water,  with  ease  and  abstinence  from 
flesh,  often  puts  an  end  to  several  distempers  ij^  the  be- 
ginning,_vvhich,  by  toO'fOTWard  applications,  might  have 
'  fjeen  niade  lusty  diseases.  When  such  a  gentle  treatment 
will  not  stop  the  growing  mischief,  but  that  it  will  turn 
into  a  formed  disease,  it  will  be  time  to  seek  the  advice  of 
some  sober  and  discreet  physician.  In  this  part,  I  hope, 
I  shall  find  an  easy  belief ;  and  nol)ody  can  have  a  pre- 
tence to  doubt  the  advice  of  one,  who  has  spent  some 

*  Cf.  end  of  sees.  119  and  165. 


\^ 


28  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

time  in  the  study  of  physic,  when  he  counsels  you  not  to 
be  too  forward  in  making  use  of  physic  and  physicians, 

30.  And  thus  I  have  done  with  what  concerns  the 
body  and  health,  which  reduces  itself  to  these  few  and 
easily  observable  rules.  Plenty  of  open  air,  exercise,] 
and  sleep ;  plain  diet,  no  wine  or  strong  drink,  and  very 
little  or  no  physic;  not  too  warm  and  strait  clothing;! 
especially  the  head  and  feet  kept  cold,  and  the  feet  often  ^ 
used  to  cold  water  and  exposed  to  wet. 

31.  Mind. —  Due  care  being  had  to  keep  the  body  in 
strength  and  vigour,  so  that  it  may  be  able  to  obey  and 
execute  the  orders  of  the  mind>'  the  next  and  principal 
business  is,  to  set  the  mind  right,  that  on  all  occasions  it 
may  be  disposed  to  do  nothing  but  what  may  be  suitable 
to  the  dignity  and  excellency  of  a  rational  creature. 

32.  If  what  I  have  said  in  the  beginning  of  this  dis- 
course be  true,  as  I  do  not  doubt  but  it  is,  viz.  that  the 
difference  to  be  found  in  the  manners  and  abilities  of 
men,  is  owing  more  to  their  education  than  to  any  thing 
else;  we  have  reason  to  conclude,  that  great  care  is  to  be 
had  of  the  forming  children's  minds,  and  giving  them 
that  seasoning  early,  which  shall  influence  their  lives 
always  after.  For  when  they  do  well  or  ill,  the  praise 
or  blame  will  be  laid  there :  and  when  any  thing  is  done 
untowardly,  the  common  saying  will  pass  upon  them,  that 
it  is  suitable  to  their  breeding. 

33.  As  the  strength  of  the  body  lies  chiefly  in  being 
able  to  endure  hardships,  so  also  does  that  of  the  mind. 
And  the  great  principle  and  foundation  of  all  virtue  and 
worth  is  placed  in  this,  that  a  man  is  able  to  deny  him- 
self his  own  desires,  cross  his  own  inclinations,  and  purely 
follow  what  reason  directs  as  best,  though  the  appetite 

\  lean  the  other  way. 

34^_^^^^ — The  great  mistake  I  have  observed  in 
people's~Breeding  their  children  has  been,  that  this  has 
not  been  taken  care  enough  of  in  its  due  season ;  that 
the  mind  has  not  been  made  obedient  to  rules,  and  pliant 
to  reason,  wheii  at  first  it  was  most  tender,  most  easy  to 
be  bowed.     Parents  being  wisely  ordained  by  nature  to 


34,  35.  EAELY  29 

love  their  children,  are  very  apt,  if  reason  watch  not  that 
natural  affection  very  warily ;  are  apt,  I  say,  to  let  it  run 
into  fondness.^  'i^hey  love  their  little  ones,  and  ^tis  their 
duty  :  but  they  often  with  them  cherish  their  faults  too. 
They  must  not  be  crossed,  forsooth ;  they  must  be  per- 
mitted to  have  their  wills  in  all  things;  and  they  being 
in  their  infancies  not  capable  of  great  vices,  their  parents 
think  they  may  safely  enough  indulge  their  little  irregu- 
larities, and  make  themselves  sport  with  that  pretty  per- 
verseness,  which  they  think  well  enough  becomes  that 
innocent  age.  But  to  a  fond  parent,  that  would  not  have 
his  child  corrected  for  a  perverse  trick,  but  excused  it, 
saying  it  was  a  small  matter;  Solon  very  well  replied, 
*  Ay,  but  custom  is  a  great  one.^^ 

35.  The  fondling  must  be  taught  to  strike,  and  call 
names;  must  have  what  he  cries  for,  and  do  what  he 
pleases.  Thus  parents,  by  humouring  and  cockering 
them  when  little,  corrupt  the  principles  of  nature  in 
their  children,  and  wonder  afterwards  to  taste  the  bitter 
waters,  when  they  themselves  have  poisoned  the  fountain. 
For  when  their  children  are  grown  up,  and  these  ill  habits 
with  them;  when  they  are  now  too  big  to  be  dandled,  and 
their  parents  can  no  longer  make  use  of  them  as  play- 
things ;  then  they  complain,  that  the  brats  are  untoward 
and  perverse;  then  they  are  offended  to  see  them  wilful, 
and  are  troubled  with  those  ill  humours,  which  they 
themselves  inspired  and  cherished  in  them.  And  then, 
perhaps  too  late,  would  be  glad  to  get  out  those  weeds 
which  their  own  hands  have  planted,  and  which  now 
have  taken  too  deep  root  to  be  easily  extirpated.  For 
he  that  has  been  used  to  have  his  will  in  every  thing,  as 
long  as  he  was  in  coats,  why  should  we  think  it  strange 
that  he  should  desire  it,  and  contend  for  it  still,  when  he 
is  in  breeches  ?  Indeed,  as  he  grows  more  toAvards  a  man, 
age  shows  his  faults  the  more,  so  that  there  be  few  parents 
then  so  blind,  as  not  to  see  them;  few  so  insensible  as 

^  I.e.,  foolishness. 

^  Quoted  by  Montaigne  in  the  essay,  De  la  Coustume,  i., 
chap.  xxii. 


30  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

not  to  feel  the  ill  effects  of  their  own  indulgence.  He 
had  the  will  of  his  maid  before  he  could  speak  or  go ;  he 
had  the  mastery  of  his  parents  ever  since  he  could  prattle; 
and  why,  now  he  is  grown  up,  is  stronger  and  wiser  than 
he  was  then,  why  now  of  a  sudden  must  he  be  restrained 
aud  curbed?  Why  must  he  at  seven,  fourteen,  or  twenty 
years  old,  lose  the  privilege  which  the  parents'  indulgence, 
till  then,  so  largely  allowed  him  ?  Try  it  in  a  dog,  or  an 
horse,  or  any  other  creature,  and  see  whether  the  ill  and 
resty^  tricks  they  have  learned  when  young,  are  easily  to 
be  mended  when  they  are  knit :  and  yet  none  of  those 
creatures  are  half  so  wilful  and  proud,  or  half  so  desirous 
to  be  masters  of  themselves  and  others,  as  man. 

36.  We  are  generally  wise  enough  to  begin  with  them, 
when  they  are  very  young,  and  discipline  betimes  those 
other  creatures  we  would  make  useful  to  us.  They  are 
only  our  own  offspring,  that  we  neglect  in  this  point; 
and  having  made  them  ill  children,  we  foolishly  expect 
they  should  be  good  men.  For  if  the  child  must  have 
grapes,  or  sugar-plums,  when  he  has  a  mind  to  them, 
rather  than  make  the  poor  baby  cry,  or  be  out  of  humour, 
why,  when  he  is  grown  up,  must  he  not  be  satisfied  too, 
if  his  desires  carry  him  to  Avine  or  women  ?  They  are 
objects  as  suitable  to  the  longing  of  one  of  more  years, 
as  what  he  cried  for,  when  little,  was  to  the  inclinations 
of  a  child.  The  having  desires  suitable  to  the  apprehen- 
sions and  relish  of  those  several  ages,  is  not  the  fault; 
but  the  not  having  them  subject  to  the  rules  and  restraints 
of  reason  :  the  diff'erence  lies  not  in  the  having  or  not 
having  appetites,  but  in  the  power  to  govern,  and  deny 
our  selves  in  them.  And  he  that  is  not  used  to  submit 
his  will  to  the  reason  of  others,  when  he  is  young,  will 
scarce  hearken  or  submit  to  his  own  reason,  when  he  is 
of  an  age  to  make  use  of  it.  And  what  a  kind  of  a  man 
such  an  one  is  like  to  prove,  is  easy  to  foresee. 

Section  37. — Parents,  by  example  and  incitement,  com- 
monly teach   children  to  he  violent,  to  love  finery,  to  lie 
and  he  gluttonous.     Cf.  Section  116. 
^  Bestive,  restless. 


38,  39.  CRAVING  31 

38.^  Craving. — It  seems  plain  to  me,  that  the  principle 
of  all  virtue  and  excellency  lies  in  a  power  of  denying 
our  selves  the  satisfaction  of  our  own  desires,  where  reason 
does  not  authorize  them.  This  power  is  to  be  got  and 
improved  by  custom,  made  easy  and  familiar  by  an  early 
practice.  If  therefore  I  might  be  heard,  I  would  advise, 
that,  contrary  to  the  ordinary  way,  children  should  be 
used  to  submit  their  desires,  and  go  without  their  long- 
ings, even  from  their  very  cradles.  The  first  thing  they 
should  learn  to  know,  should  be,  that  they  were  not  to 
have  anything,  because  it  pleased  them,  but  because  it 
was  thought  fit  for  them.  If  things  suitable  to  their 
wants  were  supplied  to  them,  so  that  they  were  never 
suffered  to  have  what  they  once  cried  for,  they  would 
learn  to  be  content  Avithout  it ;  would  never  with  bawling 
and  peevishness  contend  for  mastery ;  nor  be  half  so 
uneasy  to  themselves  and  others  as  they  are,  because 
from  the  first  beginning  they  are  not  thus  handled.  If 
they  were  never  suffered  to  obtain  their  desire  by  the 
impatience  they  expressed  for  it,  they  would  no  more 
cry  for  other  things  than  they  do  for  the  moon. 

39.  I  say  not  this,  as  if  children  were  not  to  be  indulged 
in  any  thing,  or  that  I  expected  they  should,  in  hanging- 
sleeves,  have  the  reason  and  conduct  of  counsellors.  I 
consider  them  as  children  that  must  be  tenderly  used, 
that  must  play,  and  have  playthings.  That  which  I 
mean  is,  that  whenever  they  craved  what  was  not  fit  for 
them  to  have,  or  do,  they  should  not  be  permitted  it, 
because  they  were  little  and  desired  it :  nay,  whatever 
they  were  importunate  for,  they  should  be  sure,  for  that 
very  reason,  to  be  denied.  I  have  seen  children  at  a 
table,  who,  whatever  was  there,  never  asked  for  anything, 
but  contentedly  took  what  was  given  them;  and  at  another 
place,  I  have  seen  others  cry  for  every  thing  they  saw, 
must  be  served  out  of  every  dish,  and  that  first  too.  What 
made  this  vast  difference,  but  this;  that  one  was  accus- 
tomed to  have  what  they  called  or  cried  for,  the  other  to 
go  without  it  ?  The  younger  they  are,  the  less,  I  think, 
*  Sec.  37  in  first  edition. 


32  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

are  their  unruly  and  disorderly  appetites  to  be  complied 
with ;  and  the  less  reason  they  have  of  their  own,  the 
more  are  they  to  be  under  the  absolute  power  and  restraint 
of  those,  in  whose  hands  they  are.  From  which  I  confess, 
it  will  follow,  that  none  but  discreet  people  should  be 
about  them.  If  the  world  commonly  does  otherwise,  I 
cannot  help  that :  I  am  saying  what  I  think  should  be ; 
which,  if  it  were  already  in  fashion,  I  should  not  need  to 
trouble  the  world  with  a  discourse  on  this  subject.  But 
yet  I  doubt  not,  but  when  it  is  considered,  there  will  be 
others  of  opinion  with  me,  that  the  sooner  this  way  is 
beg'un  with  children,  the  easier  it  will  be  for  them,  and 
their  governors  too.  And  that  this  ought  to  be  observed 
as  an  inviolable  maxim,  that  whatever  once  is  denied 
them,  they  are  certainly  not  to  obtain  by  crying  or 
importunity ;  unless  one  has  a  mind  to  teach  them  to  be 
impatient  and  troublesome,  by  rewarding  them  for  it, 
when  they  are  so. 

40.  Early. — Those  therefore  that  intend  ever  to  govern 
their  children,  should  begin  it  whilst  they  are  very  little ; 
and  look  that  they  perfectly  comply  with  the  will  of  their 
parents.  Would  you  have  your  son  obedient  to  you,  when 
past  a  child  ?  Rg^snre  t}iftTi^o^stab]isli_the  authority  of 
a  father,  aa_aiQQn  as  he  is  ca^/blfi.jQ£-submissioii,  and_can 
understand  in  whose  power  hejs.  If  you  would  have  him 
sTaiiS^i  awe  of  you,  iniprint  it  in  his  infancy ;  and,  as  he 
approaches  more  to  a  man,  admit  him  nearer  to  your 
familiarity  :  so  shall  you  have  liimynm^ftbpdipTit,  subject 
(as  is  fit)  whilst  he  is  a  cliildy  an  dTyour  affectionate  friend 
whe'n  he  is  a  man.  For  methinks  they  mightily  misplace 
the  treatment  due  to  their  children,  who  are  indulgent 
and  familiar  when  they  are  little,  but  severe  to  them,  and 
keep  them  at  a  distance  when  they  are  grown  up.  For 
liberty  and  indulgence  can  do  no  good  to  children  :  their 
want  of  judgment  makes  them  stand  in  need  of  restraint 
and  discipline.  And,  on  the  contrary,  imperiousness  and 
severity  is  but  an  ill  way  of  treating  men,  who  have  reason 
of  their  own  to  guide  them,  unless  you  have  a  mind  to 
make  your  children,  when  grown  up,  weary  of  you ;  and 


41,  42.  EARLY  33 

secretly  to  say  within  themselves,  "  When  will  you  die, 
father  ri 

41.  I  imagine  every  one  will  judge  it  reasonable,  that 
their  children,  when  little,  should  look  upon  their  parents 
as  their  lords,  their  absolute  governors;  and,  as  such, 
stand  in  awe  of  them :  and  that,  when  they  come  to  riper 
years,  they  should  look  on  them  as  their  best,  as  their  only  | 
sure  friends  ;  and,  as  such,  love  and  reverence  them.  The> 
way  I  have  mentioned,  xif  I  mistake  not,  is  the  only  one 
to  obtain  this.  We  must  look  upon  our  children,  when 
grown  up,  to  be  like  ourselves,  with  the  same  passions, 
the  same  desires.  We  would  be  thought  rational  creatures, 
and  have  our  freedom ;  we  love  not  to  be  uneasy  under 
constant  rebukes  and  brow-beatings ;  nor  can  we  bear 
severe  humours,  and  great  distance,  in  those  we  converse 
with.  Whoever  has  such  treatment  when  he  is  a  man, 
will  look  out  other  company,  other  friends,  other  conver- 
sation, with  whom  he  can  be  at  ease.  If  therefore  a  strict 
hand  be  kept  over  children  from  the  beginning,  they  will 
in  that  age  be  tractable,  and  quietly  submit  to  it,  as  never 
having  known  any  other :  and  if,  as  they  grow  up  to  the 
use  of  reason,  the  rigour  of  government  be,  as  they  deserve 
it,  gently  relaxed ,  the  father's  brow  more  smooth  to  them, 
and  the  distance  by  degrees  abated,  his  former  restraints 
will  in'crease  their  love,  when  they  find  it  was  only  a  kind- 
ness to  them,  and  a  care  to  make  them  capable  to  deserve 
the  favour  of  their  parents,  and  the  esteem  of  every  body 
else. 

42.  Thus  much  for  the  settling  your  authority  over 
your  children  in  general.  [Fear  and  awe  ought  to  give 
you  the  first  power  over  their  minds,  and  love  and  friend- 
ship in  riper  years  to  hold  it :  for  the  time  must  come, 
when  they  will  be  past  the  rod  and  correction ;  and 
then,  if  the  love  of  you  make  them  not  obedient  and 
dutiful,  if  the  love  of  virtue  and  reputation  keep  them 
not  in  laudable  courses,  I  ask,  what  hold  will  you  have 

*  The  thought  occurs  in  Montaigne,  ii.,  chap,  viii.,  "  On  the 
affection  of  fathers  for  their  children,"  with  whicli  these  earlier 
sections  of  the  Thoughts  should  be  compared. 

3 


34  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

upon  them,  to  turn  them  to  it  ?     Indeed,  fear  of  having 
a  scanty  portion,  if  they  displease  you,  may  make  them 
slaves  to  your  estate,  but  they  will  be  never  the  less  ill 
and  wicked  in  private;  and  that  resti-aint  will  not  last 
always.     Every  man  must  some  time  or  other  be  trusted 
/   to  himself,  and  his  own  conduct ;  and  he  that  is  a  good, 
Ij  a  virtuous,  and  able  man,  must  be  made  so  within.    And 
'     therefore,  what  he  is  to  receive  from  education,  what  is 
to  sway  and  influence  his  life,  must  be  something  put 
into  him  betimes,  habits  woven  into  the  very  principles 
of  his  nature ;  and  not  a  counterfeit  carriage,  and  dis- 
sembled   outside,  put    on   by    fear,  only  to   avoid   the 
present  anger  of  a  father,  who  perhaps  may  disinherit 
him. 

^  43.  Punishments. — This  being  laid  down  in  general,  as 
the  course  ought  to  be  taken,  ^tis  fit  we  now  come  to 
consider  the  parts  of  the  discipline  to  be  used,  a  little 
more  particularly.  I  have  spoken  so  much  of  carrying  a 
strict  hand  over  children,  that  perhaps  I  shall  be  sus- 
pected of  not  considering  enough,  what  is  due  to  their 
tender  age  and  constitutions.  But  that  opinion  will 
vanish,  when  you  have  heard  me  a  little  farther.  For  I 
am  very  apt  to  think,  that  great  severity  of  pnnishmpnt 
does  but  very  little  good,;  nay,  great  har|n  jp  pflnfntim^ : 
and  I  believe  it  will  be  found,  that,  ceeteris  paribus,  those 
children  who  have  been  most  chastised,  seldom  make  the 
best  men.  All  that  I  have  hitherto  contended  for,  is, 
that  whatsoever  rigour  is  necessary,  it  is  more  to  be  used 
the  younger  children  are ;  and  having  by  a  due  applica- 
tion wrought  its  effect,  it  is  to  be  relaxed,  and  changed 
into  a  milder  sort  of  government. 

44.  Awe. — A  compliance  and  suppleness  of  their  wills, 
being  by  a  steady  hand  introduced  by  parents,  before 
children  have  memories  to  retain  the  beginnings  of  it, 
will  seem  natural  to  them,  and  work  afterwards  in  them, 
as  if  it  were  so,  preventing  all  occasions  of  struggling  or 
repining.  The  only  care  is,  that  it  be  begun  early,  and 
inflexibly  kept  to,  till  awe  and  respect  be  grown  familiar, 
and  there  appears  not  the  least  reluctancy  in  the  sub- 


44.  AWE— 45.  SELF-DENIAL— 46.  DEJECTED       35 

mission,  and  ready  obedience  of  their  minds.  When  this 
reverence  is  once  thus  established  (which  it  must  be 
early,  or  else  it  will  cost  pains  and  blows  to  recover  it, 
and  the  more,  the  longer  it  is  deferred),  ^tis  by  it,  mixed 
still  with  as  much  indulgence,  as  they  make  not  an  ill 
use  of,  and  not  by  beating,  chiding,  or  other  servile 
punishments,  [that]  they  are  for  the  future  to  be 
governed  as  they  grow  up  to  more  understanding. 

45.  That  this  is  so,  will  be  easily  allowed,  when  it  is 
but  considered  what  is  to  be  aimed  at  in  an  ingenuous 
education,  and  upon  what  it  turns. 

1,  Self-denial. — He  that  has  not  a  mastery  over  his 
inclinations,  he  that  knows  not  how  to  resist  the  impor- 
tunity of  present  pleasure  or  pain,  for  the  sake  of  what 
reason  tells  him  is  fit  to  be  done,  wants  the  true  princi- 
ple of  virtue  and  industry,  and  is  in  danger  never  to  be 
good  for  any  thing.  This  temper,  therefore,  so  contrary 
to  unguided  nature,  is  to  be  got  betimes ;  and  this  habit, 
as  the  true  foundation  of  future  ability  and  happiness,  is 
to  be  wrought  into  the  mind,  as  early  as  may  be,  even 
from  the  first  dawnings  of  any  knowledge  or  apprehen- 
sion in  children  ;  and  so  to  be  confirmed  in  them,  by  all  the 
care  and  ways  imaginable,  by  those  who  have  the  over- 
sight of  their  education. 

46.  2.  Dejected. — On  the  other  side,  if  the  mind  be 
curbed,  and  humbled  too  much  in  children;  if  their 
spirits  be  abased  and  broken  much,  by  too  strict  an  hand 
over  them,  they  lose  all  their  vigour  and  industry,  and 
are  in  a  worse  state  than  the  former.  For  extravagant 
young  fellows,  that  have  liveliness  and  spirit,  come  some- 
times to  be  set  right,  and  so  make  able  and  great  men  : 
but  dejected  minds,  timorous  and  tame,  and  low  spirits, 
are  hardly  ever  to  be  raised,  and  very  seldom  attain  to 
any  thing.  To  avoid  the  danger  that  is  on  either  hand, 
is  the  great  art ;  and  he  that  has  found  a  way,  how  to 
keep  up  a  child's  spirit,  easy,  active,  and  free ;  and  yet, 
at  the  same  time,  to  restrain  him  from  many  things  he  has 
a  mind  to,  and  to  draw  him  to  things  that  are  uneasy  to 
him;  he,  I  say,  that  knows  how  to  reconcile  these  seem- 


36  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

ing  contradictions,  has,  in  my  opinion,  got  the  true  secret 
of  education, 

47.  Beating} — The  usual  lazy  and  short  way  by  chas- 
tisement, and  the  rod,  which  is  the  only  instrument  of 
government  that  tutors  generally  know,  or  ever  think  of, 
is  the  most  unfit  of  any  to  be  used  in  education  ;  because 
it  tends  to  both  those  mischiefs,  which,  as  we  have  shown, 
are  the  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  which,  on  the  one  hand  or 
the  other,  ruin  all  that  miscarry. 

48.  1.  This  kind  of  punishment  contributes  not  at  all 
to  the  mastery  of  our  natural  propensity  to  indulge 
corporal  and  present  pleasure,  and  to  avoid  pain  at  any 
rate,  but  rather  encourages  it ;  and  so  strengthens  that 
in  us,  which  is  the  root  of  all  vicious  and  wrong  actions. 
For  what  motives,  I  pray,  does  a  child  act  by,  but  of  such 
pleasure  and  pain,  that  drudges  at  his  book  against  his 
inclination,  or  abstains  from  eating  unwholesome  fruit, 
that  he  takes  pleasure  in,  only  out  of  fear  of  whipping  ? 
He  in  this  only  prefers  the  greater  corporal  pleasure,  or 
avoids  the  greater  corporal  pain ;  and  what  is  it,  to 
govern  his  actions,  and  direct  his  conduct,  by  such 
motives  as  these  ?  What  is  it,  I  say,  but  to  cherish  that 
principle  in  him,  which  it  is  our  business  to  root  out  and 
destroy  ?  And  therefore  I  cannot  think  any  correction 
useful  to  a  child,  where  the  shame  of  suffering  for 
havmg  done  amiss  does  not  work  more  upon  him  than 
the  pain, 

49.  2.  This  sort  of  correction  naturally  breeds  an 
aversion  to  that  which  it  is  the  tutor's  business  to  create 
a^  liking  to..  How  obvious  is  it  to  observe,  that  children 
come  to  hate  things  liked  at  first,  as  soon  as  they  come 
to  be  whipped,  or  chid,  and  teazed  about  them  ?  And  it 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at  in  them,  when  grown  men 
would  not  be  able  to  be  reconciled  to  any  thing  by  such 
ways.  Who  is  there  that  would  not  be  disgusted  with 
any  innocent  recreation  in  itself  indifferent  to  him,  if  he 
should  with  blows,  or  ill  language,  be  haled  to  it,  when 
he  had  no  mind  ?     Or  be  constantly  so  treated,  for  some 

^  Cf.  Montaigne,  ii.,  chap.  viii. 


49-51.  BEATING— 52.  REWAKDS  37 

circumstance  in  his  application  to  it  ?  This  is  natural  to 
be  so.  Offensive  circumstances  ordinarily  infect  innocent 
things  which  they  are  joined  with  :  and  the  very  sight  of 
a  cup,  wherein  any  one  uses  to  take  nauseous  physic, 
turns  his  stomach,  so  that  nothing  will  relish  well  out  of 
it,  though  the  cup  be  never  so  clean  and  well-shaped, 
and  of  the  richest  materials. 

50.  3.  Such  a  sort  of  slavish  discipline  makes  a  slavish 
temper.  The  child  submits,  and  dissembles  obedienrrej 
whilst  the  fear~^ot  the  rod  hangs  over  him ;  but  when 
that  is  removed,  and,  by  being  out  of  sight,  he  can 
promise  himself  impunity,  he  gives  the  greater  scope  to 
his  natural  inclination,  which  by  this  way  is  not  at  all 
altered,  but  on  the  contrary  heightened  and  increased  in 
him ;  and  after  such  restraint,  breaks  out  usually  with 
the  more  violence.     Or, 

51.  4.  If  severity  carried  to  the  highest  pitch  does 
prevail,  and  works  a  cure  upon  the  present  unruly  dis- 
temper, it  is  often  bringing  in  the  room  of  it  a  worse  and 
more  dangerous  disease,  by  breaking  the  mind;  and 
then,  in  the  place  of  a  disorderly  young  fellow,  you  haye 
a  low-spirited,  moped  creainxa. :  who,  however  with  his 
unnatural  sobriety  he  may  please  silly  people,  who  com- 
mend tame,  unactive  children  because  they  make  no 
noise,  nor  give  them  any  trouble ;  yet,  at  last,  will 
probably  prove  as  uncomfortable  a  thing  te  his  friends, 
as  "he  will  be,  all  his  life,  an  useless  thing  to  himself  and 
others. 

52.  Rewards. — Beating  then,  and  all  other  sorts  of 
slavish  and  corporal  punishments,  are  not  the  discipline 
fit  to  be  used  in  the  education  of  those  we  would  have 
wise,  good,  and  ingenuous  men;  and  therefore  very 
rarely  to  be  applied,  and  that  only  in  great  occasions, 
and  cases  of  extremity.  On  the  other  side,  to  flatter 
children  by  rewards  of  things  that  are  pleasant  to  them, 
is  as  carefully  to  be  avoided.  He  that  will  give  to  his 
son  apples,  or  sugar-plums,  or  what  else  of  this  kind  he 
is  most  delighted  with,  to  make  him  learn  his  book,  does 
but  authorize  his  love  of  pleasure,  and  cocker  up  that 


38  THOUGHTS  CONCEKNING  EDUCATION 

dangerous  propensity,  which  he  ought  by  all  means  to 
subdue  and  stifle  in  him.  You  can  never  hope  to  teach 
him  to  master  it  whilst  you  compound  for  the  check  you 
give  his  inclination  in  one  place,  by  the  satisfaction  you 
propose  to  it  in  another.  To  make  a  good,  a  wise,  and  a 
virtuous  man,  it  is  fit  he  sliould  learn  to  cross  his  appetite, 
and  deny  his  inclination  to  riches,  finery,  or  pleasing  his 
palate,  etc.,  whenever  his  reason  advises  the  contrary, 
and  his  duty  requires  it.  But  when  you  draw  him  to  do 
anything  that  is  fit,  by  the  oifer  of  money ;  or  reward 
the  pains  of  learning  his  book,  by  the  pleasure  of  a 
luscious  morsel;  when  you  promise  him  a  lace-cravat,  or 
a  fine  new  suit,  upon  performance  of  some  of  his  little 
tasks ;  what  do  you,  by  proposing  these  as  rewards,  but 
allow  them  to  be  the  good  things  he  should  aim  at,  and 
thereby  encourage  his  longing  for  them,  and  accustom 
him  to  place  his  happiness  in  them  ?  Thus  people,  to 
prevail  with  children  to  be  industrious  about  their 
grammar,  dancing,  or  some  other  such  matter  of  no  great 
moment  to  the  happiness  or  usefulness  of  their  lives,  by 
misapplied  rewards  and  punishments,  sacrifice  their 
virtue,  invert  the  order  of  their  education,  and  teach 
them  luxury,  pride,  or  covetousness,  etc.  For  in  this 
way,  flattering  those  wrong  inclinations,  which  they 
should  restrain  and  suppress,  they  lay  the  foundations  of 
those  future  vices,  which  cannot  be  avoided,  but  by 
curbing  our  desires,  and  accustoming  them  early  to 
submit  to  reason. 

53.  I  say  not  this,  that  I  would  have  children  kept 
from  the  conveniences  or  pleasures  of  life,  that  are  not 
injurious  to  their  health  or  virtue.  On  the  contrary,  I 
would  have  their  lives  made  as  pleasant,  and  as  agreeable 
to  them  as  may  be,  in  a  plentiful  enjoyment  of  Avhatso- 
ever  might  innocently  delight  them  :  provided  it  be  with 
this  caution,  that  they  have  those  enjoyments  only  as  the 
consequences  of  the  state  of  esteem  and  acceptation  they 
are  in  with  their  parents  and  governors ;  but  they  should 
never  be  offered  or  bestowed  on  them,  as  the  reward  of 
this  or  that  particular  performance,  that  they  show  an 


54,  55.  REWAEDS  39 

aversion  to,  or  to  which  they  would  not  have   applied 
themselves  without  that  temptation  A 

54.  But  if  you  take  away  the  rod  on  one  hand,  and 
these  little  encouragements,  which  they  are  taken  with, 
on  the  other.  How  then  (will  you  say)  shall  children  be 
governed  ?  Remove  hope  and  fear,  and  there  is  an  end 
of  all  discipline.  I  grant,  that  good  and  evil,  reward  and 
punishment,  are  the  only  motives  to  a  rational  creature  ; 
these  are  the  spur  and  reins  whereby  all  mankind  are  set 
on  work  and  guided,  and  therefore  they  are  to  be  made 
use  of  to  children  too.  For  I  advise  their  parents  and 
governors  always  to  carry  this  in  their  minds,  that  they 
are  to  be  treated  as  rational  creatures. 

55.  Rewards,  I  grant,  and  punishments  must  be- 
proposed  tO  children,  li  we  inter n  to  woric  upon  them. 
Tnii  TBlytftke,  I  imagine,  is  that  those  that  are  generally 
made  use  of,  are  ill  chosen.  The  pains  and  pleasures  of 
the  body  are,  I  think,  of  ill  consequence,  when  made 
the  rewards  and  punishments,  whereby  men  would 
prevail  on  their  children  :  for  they  serve  but  to  increase 
and  strengthen  those  appetites  which  'tis  our  business 
to  subdue  and  master.  What  principle  of  virtue  do  you 
lay  in  a  child,  if  you  will  redeem  his  desires  of  one 
pleasure  by  the  proposal  of  another  ?  This  is  but  to 
enlarge  his  appetite,  and  instruct  it  to  wander.  If  a 
child  cries  for  an  unwholesome  and  dangerous  fruit,  you 
purchase  his  quiet  by  giving  him  a  less  hurtful  sweet- 
meat ;  this  perhaps  may  preserve  his  health,  but  spoils 
his  mind,  and  sets  that  farther  out  of  order.  For  here 
you  only  change  the  object,  but  flatter  still  his  appetite, 
and  allow  that  must  be  satisfied  :  wherein,  as  I  have 
showed,  lies  the  root  of  the  mischief  :  and  till  you  bring 
him  to  be  able  to  bear  a  denial  of  that  satisfaction,  the 
child  may  at  present  be  quiet  and  orderly,  but  the 
disease  is  not  cured.     By  this  way  of  proceeding  you 

*  Locke  here  proposes  a  real  discipline  of  moral  consequences, 
which  Rousseau  and  Herbert  Spencer  afterwards  perverted  to  a 
so-called  discipline  of  natural  consequences  (see  sees.  56-60,  72,  84, 
107,  124). 


40  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

foment  and  cherish  in  him,  that  which  is  the  spring 
from  whence  all  the  evil  flows,  which  will  be  sure  on  the 
next  occasion  to  break  out  again  with  more  violence, 
give  him  stronger  longings,  and  you  more  trouble. 

56.  Beputafion. — The  rewards  and  punishments^  then, 
whereby  we  should  keep  children  in  order,  are  quite  of 
another  kind ;  and  of  that  force,  that  when  we  can  get 
them  once  to  work,  the  business,  I  think,  is  done,  and 
the  diificulty  is  over.  Esteem  and  disgrace  are,  of  all 
others,  the  most  powerful  incentives  to  the  mind,  when 
once  it  is  brought  to  relish  them.  If  you  can  once  get 
into  children  a  love  of  credit,  and  an  apprehension  of 
shame  and  disgrace,  you  have  put  into  them  the  true 
principle,  which  will  constantly  work,  and  incline  them 
to  the  right.  But  it  will  be  asked.  How  shall  this  be 
done  ? 

I  confess,  it  does  not,  at  first  appearance,  want  some 
difficulty ;  but  yet  I  think  it  worth  our  while  to  seek  the 
ways  (and  practise  them  when  found)  to  attain  this, 
which  I  look  on  as  the  great  secret  of  education. 

57.  First,  children  (earlier  perhaps  than  we  think)  are 
very  sensible  of  praise  and  commendation.  They  find  a 
pleasure  in  being  esteemed  and  valued,  especially  by 
their  parents,  and  those  whom  they  depend  on.  If 
therefore  the  father  caress  and  commend  them,  when 
they  do  well ;  show  a  cold  and  neglectful  countenance 
to  them  upon  doing  ill ;  and  this  accompanied  by  a  like 
carriage  of  the  mother,  and  all  others  that  are  about 
them,  it  will  in  a  little  time  make  them  sensible  of  the 
difference :  and  this,  if  constantly  observed,  I  doubt  not 
but  will  of  itself  work  more  than  threats  or  blows,  which 
lose  their  force,  when  once  grown  common,  and  are  of 
no  use  when  shame  does  not  attend  them ;  and  there- 
fore are  to  be  forborne,  and  never  to  be  used,  but  in 
the  case  hereafter-mentioned,  when  it  is  brought  to 
extremity. 

58.  But,  secondly,  to  make  the  sense  of  esteem  or  dis- 
grace sink  the  deeper,  and  be  of  the  more  weight,  other 
agreeable    or    disagreeable    things    should    constantly 


58,  59.  REPUTATION  41 

accompany  these  different  states;  not  as  particular 
rewards  and  punishments  of  this  or  that  particular 
action,  but  as  necessarily  belonging-  to,  and  constantly 
attending  one,  who  by  his  carriage  has  brought  himself 
into  a  state  of  disgrace  or  commendation.  By  which 
way  of  treating  them,  children  may  as  much  as  possible 
be  brought  to  conceive,  that  those  that  are  commended 
and  in  esteem  for  doing  well,  will  necessarily  be  beloved 
and  cherished  by  every,  body,  and  have  all  other  good 
things  as  a  consequence  of  it.  And,  on  the  other  side, 
when  any  one  by  miscarriage  falls  into  disesteem,  and 
cares  not  to  preserve  his  credit,  he  will  unavoidably  fall 
under  neglect  and  contempt;  and  in  that  state, the  want 
of  what  ever  might  satisfy  or  delight  him,  will  follow. 
In  this  way  the  objects  of  their  desires  are  made  assist- 
ing to  virtue,  when  a  settled  experience  from  the  begin- 
ning teaches  children,  that  the  things  they  delight  in, 
belong  to,  and  are  to  be  enjoyed  by  those  only,  who  are 
in  a  state  of  reputation.  If  by  these  means  you  can 
come  once  to  shame  them  out  of  their  faults,  (for  besides 
that,  I  would  willingly  have  no  punishment,)  and  make 
them  in  love  with  the  pleasure  of  being  well  thought  on, 
you  may  turn  them  as  you  please,  and  they  will  be  in 
love  with  all  the  ways  of  virtue. 

59.  The  great  difficulty  here  is,  I  imagine,  from  the 
folly  and  perverseness  of  servants,  who  are  hardly  to  be 
hindered  from  crossing  herein  the  design  of  the  father 
and  mother.  Children,  discountenanced  by  their  parents 
for  any  fault,  find  usually  a  refuge  and  relief  in  the 
caresses  of  those  foolish  flatterers,  who  thereby  undo 
whatever  the  parents  endeavour  to  establish.  When  the 
father  or  mother  looks  sour  on  the  child,  everybody  else 
should  put  on  the  same  carriage  to  him,  and  nobody 
give  him  countenance,  till  forgiveness  asked,  and  a 
contrary  carriage  restored  him  to  his  esteem  and  former 
credit  again.  If  this  were  constantly  observed,  I  guess 
there  would  be  little  need  of  blows  or  chiding :  their 
own  ease  and  satisfaction  would  quickly  teach  children 
to  court  commendation,  and  avoid  doing  that  which  they 


42  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

found  every  body  condemned,  and  they  were  sure  to 
suffer  for,  without  being  chid  or  beaten.  This  would 
teach  them  modesty  and  shame ;  and  they  would  cjuickly 
come  to  have  a  natural  abhorrence  for  that  which  they 
found  made  them  slighted  and  neglected  by  every  body. 
But  how  this  inconvenience  from  servants  is  to  be 
remedied,  I  can  only  leave  to  parents'  care  and  con- 
sideration. Only  I  think  it  of  great  importance;  and 
that  they  are  very  happy,  who  can  get  discreet  people 
about  their  children. 

60.  Shame. — Frequent  beating  or  chiding  is  therefore 
carefully  to  be  avoided ;  because  it  never  produces  any 
good,  farther  than  it  serves  to  raise  shame  and  abhor- 
rence of  the  miscarriage  that  brought  it  on  them.  And 
if  the  greatest  part  of  the  trouble  be  not  sense  that  they 
have  done  amiss,  and  the  apprehension  that  they  have 
drawn  on  themselves  the  just  displeasure  of  their  best 
friends,  the  pain  of  whipping  will  work  but  an  imperfect 
cure  j  it  only  patches  up  for  the  present,  and  skins  it 
over,  but  reaches  not  to  the  bottom  of  the  sore.  Shame, 
then,  and  apprehension  of  displeasure,  being  that  which 
ought  alone  to  give  a  check  and  hold  the  reins,  'tis  im- 
possible but  punishment  should  lose  that  efficacy,  when 
it  often  returns.  Shame  has  in  children  the  same  place 
as  modesty  in  women,  which  cannot  be  kept,  and  often 
transgressed  against.  And  as  to  the  apprehension  of 
displeasure  in  the  parents,  that  will  come  to  be  very 
insignificant,  if  the  marks  of  that  displeasure  quickly 
cease.  And  therefore  I  think  parents  should  well  con- 
sider, what  faults  in  their  children  are  weighty  enough 
to  deserve  the  declaration  of  their  anger :  but  when 
their  displeasure  is  once  declared  to  a  degree  that  carries 
any  punishment  with  it,  they  ought  not  presently  to  lay 
by  the  severity  of  their  brows,  but  to  restore  their  chil- 
dren to  their  former  grace  with  some  difficulty ;  and 
delay  till  their  conformity,  and  more  than  ordinary  merit, 
make  good  their  amendment.  If  this  be  not  so  ordered, 
punishment  will  be  by  familiarity  but  a  thing  of  course ; 
and  offending,  being  punished  and  then  forgiven,  be  as 


61.  REPUTATION— 62.  PRAISE— 63.  CHILDISHNESS     43 

natural  and  ordinary  as  noon,  flight,  and  morning,  follow- 
ing one  another. 

61.  Reputation. — Concerning  reputation,  I  shall  only 
remark  this  one  thing  more  of  it  :  that,  though  it  be  not 
the  true  principle  and  measure  of  virtue,  (for  that  is  the 
knowlege  of  a  man's  duty,  and  the  satisfaction  it  is  to 
obey  his  Maker,  in  following  the  dictates  of  that  light 
God  has  given  him,  with  the  hopes  of  acceptation  and 
reward),  yet  it  is  that  which  comes  nearest  to  it:  and 
being   the  testimony  and   applause  that  other  people's 
reason,  as  it  were,  by  common  consent,  gives  to  virtuous 
and  well-ordered   actions,  is  the  proper  guide  and  en- 
couragement of  children,  till  they  grow  able  to  judge  for 
theinselves,  and  to  find  what  is  right  by  their  own  reason.^ 
[62.  Praise  should  he  given  in  public,  hlame  in  private.~\ 
63.   Childishness.'^ — But  if  a  right  course  be  taken  with 
children,  there  will  not  be  so  much  need  of  the  applica- 
tion of  the  common  rewards  and   punishments,  as  we 
imagine,  and  as   the   general  practice   has  established. 
For,  all  their  innocent  folly,  playing,  and  childish  actions 
are  to  be  left  perfectly  free  and  unrestrained,  as  far  as 
they  can  consist  with  the  respect  due  to  those  that  are 
present ;  and  that  with  the  greatest  allowance.     If  these 
faults  of  their  age,  rather  than  of  the  children  them- 
selves, were,  as  they  should  be,  left  only  to  time,  and 
imitation,  and  riper  years  to  cure,  children  would  escape 
a  great  deal  of  misapplied  and  useless  correction ;  which 
either  fails  to  overpower  the  natural  disposition  of  their 
childhood,  and  so,  by  an  ineffectual  familiarity,  makes 
correction  in  other  necessary  cases  of  less  use ;  or  else  if 
it  be  of  force  to  restrain  the  natural  gaiety  of  that  age,  it 
serves  only  to  spoil  the  temper  both  of  body  and  mind. 
If  the  noise  and  bustle  of  their  play  prove  at  any  time 
inconvenient  or  unsuitable  to  the  place  or  company  they 
are  in,  (which  can  only  be  where  their  parents  are,)  a 
look  or  a  word  from  the  father  or  mother,  if  they  have 
established  the   authority  they  should,  will  be  enough 

^  Subject  returned  to  in  sec.  72  ;  see  also  sec.  112. 
2  Sec.  61  in  first  edition. 


44  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

either  to  remove  or  quiet  them  for  that  time.  But  this 
gamesome  humour,  which  is  wisely  adapted  by  nature  to 
their  age  and  temper,  should  rather  be  encouraged,  to 
keep  up  their  spirits,  and  improve  their  strength  and 
health,  than  curbed  or  restrained :  and  the  chief  art  is  to 
make  all  that  they  have  to  do,  sport  and  play  too. 

64.  Rules. — And  here  give  me  leave  to  take  notice  of 
one  thing  I  think  a  fault  in  the  ordinary  method  of  educa- 
tion ;  and  that  is,  the  charging  of  children's  memories, 
upon  all  occasions,  with  rules  and  precepts,  which 
they  often  do  not  understand,  and  constantly  as  soon 
forget  as  given.  If  it  be  some  action  you  would  have 
done,  or  done  otherwise ;  whenever  they  forget,  or  do  it 
awkwardly,  make  them  do  it  over  and  over  again,  till 
they  are  perfect ;  Whereby  you  will  get  these  two 
advantages  :  first,  to  see  whether  it  be  an  action  they 
can  do,  or  is  fit  to  be  expected  of  them ;  For  sometimes 
children  are  bid  to  do  things,  which,  upon  trial,  they 
are  found  not  able  to  do  ;  and  had  need  be  taught  and 
exercised  in,  before  they  are  required  to  do  them.  But 
it  is  much  easier  for  a  tutor  to  command  than  to  teach. 
Secondly,  another  thing  got  by  it  will  be  this;  that  by 
repeating  the  same  action,  till  it  be  grown  habitual  in 
them,  the  performance  will  not  depend  on  memory,  or 
reflection,  the  concomitant  of  prudence  and  age,  and  not 
of  childhood;  but  will  be  natural  in  them.  Thus,  bowing 
to  a  gentleman  when  he  salutes  him,  and  looking  in  his 
face  when  he  speaks  to  him,  is  by  constant  use  as  natural 
to  a  well-bred  man  as  breathing ;  it  requires  no  thought, 
no  reflection.  Having  this  way  cured  in  your  child  any 
fault,  it  is  cured  for  ever  :  and  thus  one  by  one,  you  may 
weed  them  out  all,  and  plant  what  habits  you  please. 

65.  I  have  seen  parents  so  heap  rules  on  their  children, 
that  it  was  impossible  for  the  poor  little  ones  to  remem- 
ber a  tenth  part  of  them,  much  less  to  observe  them. 
However,  they  were  either  by  words  or  blows  corrected 
for  the  breach  of  those  multiplied  and  often  very  im- 
pertinent-^ precepts.     Whence  it  naturally  followed,  that 

^  Pointless. 


65.  RULES— 66.  PRACTICE  45 

the  children  minded  not  what  was  said  to  them ;  when  it 
was  evident  to  them,  that  no  attention  they  were  capable 
of,  was  sufficient  to  preserve  them  from  transgression, 
and  the  rebukes  which  followed  it. 

TjQj-  fliQrafnvo  your  rules  to  your  son.  be  as  few  as  is 
possibla,  and  rather  fewer  than  more  than  _seem  abso- 
lutely  Tieppssfl.ry-  For  if  yon  bnvden  him  with  many 
rules,  one  of  these  two  things  must  necessarily  follow ; 
that  either  he  must  be  very  often  punished,  which  will  be 
of  ill  consequence,  by  making  punishment  too  frequent 
and  familiar ;  or  else  you  must  let  the  transgressions  of 
some  of  your  rules  go  unpunished,  whereby  they  will  of 
course  grow  contemptible,  and  your  authority  become 
cheap  to  him.  Make  but  few  laws,  but  see  they  be  well 
observed,  when  once  made.  Few  years  require  but  few 
laws ;  and  as  his  age  increases,  when  one  rule  is  by 
practice  well  established,  you  may  add  another. 

66.  Practice. — But  pray  remember,  children  are  not  to 
be  taught  by  rules,  which  will  be  always  slipping  out  of 
their  memories.  What  you  think  necessary  for  them  to 
do,  settle  in  them  by  an  indispensaillfi-practice,  as  often 
as  the  occasion  returns ;  and,  if  it  be  possible,  make  occa- 
sions.      T>n'«wj11   hpg-pt,  }iH^'i'<^'-'  ^^^   flioivij  ^irLiVili^  V.niTig  miff^ 

establishedT'operate  of  themselves  t  a<ily  and  naturally, 
without  Hie  "assistance  of  tlie  ineiiu)r\ .  JJut  here  let  me 
giv^two  cautions  :  1.  The  one  is,  that  you  keep  them  to 
the  practice  of  what  you  would  have  grow  into  a  habit 
in  them  by  kind  words  and  gentle  admonitions,  rather  as 
minding  them  of  what  they  forget,  than  by  harsh  rebukes 
and  chiding,  as  if  they  were  wilfully  guilty.  2ndly. 
Another  thing  you  are  to  take  care  of  is,  not  to  endeavour 
to  settle  too  many  habits  at  once,  lest  by  variety  you  con- 
found them,  and  so  perfect  none.  When  constant  custom 
has  made  any  one  thing  easy  and  natural  to  them,  and 
they  practise  it  Avithout  reflection,  you  may  then  go  on 
to  another. 

[This  method  of  teaching  children  by  a  repeated  practice, 
and  the  same  action  done  over  and  over  again,  under  the 
eye  and  direction  of  the  tutor,  till  they  have  got  the 


46  THOUGHTS  CONCEKNING  EDUCATION 

habit  of  doing  it  well^  and  not  by  relying  on  rules  trusted 
to  their  memories;  has  so  many  advantages,  which  way 
soever  we  consider  it,  that  I  cannot  but  wonder  (if  ill 
customs  could  be  wondered  at  in  any  thing)  how  it  could 
possibly  be  so  much  neglected.  I  shall  name  one  more 
that  comes  now  in  my  way.  By  this  method  we  shall 
see,  whether  what  is  required  of  him  be  adapted  to  his 
capacity,  and  any  way  suited  to  the  child^s  natural  genius 
and  constitution :  for  that  too  must  be  considered  in  a 
right  education.  We  must  not  hope  wholly  to  change 
their  original  tempers,  nor  make  the  gay  pensive  and 
grave;  nor  the  melancholy  sportive,  without  spoiling 
them.  God  has  stamped  certain  characters  upon  men's 
minds,  which,  like  their  shapes,  may  perhaps  be  a  little 
mended;  but  can  hardly  be  totally  altered  and  trans- 
formed into  the  contrary. 

He,  therefore,  that  is  about  children,  should  well  study 
their  natures  and  aptitudes,  and  see,  by  often  trials,  what 
turn  they  easily  take,  and  what  becomes  them;  observe 
what  their  native  stock  is,  how  it  may  be  improved,  and 
what  it  is  fit  for  :  he  should  consider  what  they  want, 
whether  they  be  capable  of  having  it  wrought  into  them 
by  industry,  and  incorporated  there  by  practice;  and 
whether  it  be  worth  while  to  endeavour  it.  For,  in  many 
cases,  all  that  we  can  do,  or  should  aim  at,  is,  to  make 
the  best  of  what  nature  has  given,  to  prevent  the  vices 
and  faults  to  which  such  a  constitution  is  most  inclined, 
and  give  it  all  the  advantages  it  is' capable  of.  Every 
one's  natural  genius  should  be  carried  as  far  as  it  could; 
but  to  attempt  the  putting  another  upon  him,  will  be  but 
labour  in  vain ;  and  what  is  so  plastered  on,  will  at  best 
sit  but  untowardly,  and  have  always  hanging  to  it  the 
ungracefulness  of  constraint  and  affectation.] 
^  67.  Manners. — Manners,  as  they  call  it,  about  which 
children  are  so  often  perplexed,  and  have  so  many  goodly 
exhortations  made  them,  by  their  wise  maids  and  govern- 
esses, I  think,  are  rather  to  be  learnt  by  exampje  than 
rules ;  and  then  children,  if  kept  out  of  ill  company,  will 
take  a  pride  to   behave  themselves  prettily,  after  the 


67.  MANNERS  47 

fashion  of  others^  perceiving  themselves  esteemed  and 
commended  for  it.  But  if^  by  a  little  negligence  in  this 
part,  the  boy  should  not  put  oif  his  hat,  nor  make  legs 
very  gracefully,  a  dancing-master  would  cure  that  defect, 
and  wipe  oif  all  that  plainness  of  nature,  which  the  a-la- 
mode  people  call  clownishness.  jAnd  since  nothing  ap- 
pears to  me  to  give  children  so  much  becoming  confidence 
and  behaviour,  and  so  to  raise  them  to  the  conversation 
of  those  above  their  age,  as  dancing,  J  think  they  should 
be  laught  tQ:J,aiIg£,  'i^  soon  as  they  are  capable  of  IfiaLn- 
mg  it.  For,  though  this  consist  only  in  outAvard  grace- 
fulness of  motion,  yet,  I  know  not  how,  it  gives  children 
manly  thoughts  and  carriage,  more  than  any  thing.  But 
otherwise  I  would  not  have  children  much  tormented 
about  punctilios,  or  niceties  of  breeding.  Never  trouble 
yourself  about  those  faults  in  them,  which  you  know  age 
will  cure.  And  therefore  want  of  well-fashioned  civility 
in  the  carriage,  whilst  civility  is  not  wanting  in  the  mind 
(for  there  you  must  take  care  to  plant  it  early),  should 
be  the  pafent's  and  tutor's  least  care,  whilst  they  are 
young.  I  If  his  tender  mind  be  filled  with  a  veneration 
for  his  parents  and  teachers,  which  consists  in  love  and 
esteem,  and  a  fear  to  offend  them;  and  with  respect  and 
good- will  to  all  people ;  that  respect  will  of  itself  teach 
those  ways  of  expressing  it,  which  he  observes  most 
acceptable.  Be  sure  to  keep  up  in  him  the  principles  of 
good-nature  and  kindness;  make  them  as  habitual  as  you 
can,  by  credit  and  commendation,  and  the  good  things 
accompanying  that  state :  and  when  they  have  taken  root 
in  his  mind,  and  are  settled  there  by  a  continued  practice, 
fear  not;  the  ornaments  of  conversation,  and  the  outside 
of  fashionable  manners,  will  come  in  their  due  time. 

Whilst  they  are  young,  any  carelessness  is  to  be  borne 
with  in  children,  that  carries  not  with  it  the  marks  of 
pride  or  ill  naturg^;  but  those,  when  they  appear  in  any 
action.  ~are  to  be  corrected  immediately,  by  the  ways 
above  mentioned;  and  what  else  remains  like  clownish- 
ness, or  want  of  good  breeding,  time  and  observation 
will  of  itself  reform  in  them,  as  they  ripen  in  years,  if 


48  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

they  are  bred  in  good  company;  but  if  in  ill,  all  the 
rules  in  the  world,  all  the  correction  imaginable,  will  not 
be  able  to  polish  them.  For  you  must  take  this  for  a 
certain  truth,  that  let  them  have  what  instructions  you 
will,  what  teachers  soever  you  please,  that  which  will 
most  influence  their  carriage,  will  be  the  company  they 
converse  with.  Children  (nay,  and  men  too)  do  most  by 
example.  We  are  all  a  sort  of  chameleons,  that  still  take 
a  tincture  from  things  near  us :  nor  is  it  to  be  wondered 
at  in  children,  who  better  understand  what  they  see,  than 
what  they  hear.^ 

68.  Company. — I  mentioned  above,  one  great  mischief 
that  came  by  servants  to  children,  when  by  their  flatteries 
they  take  oif  the  edge  and  force  of  the  parents'  rebukes, 
and  so  lessen  their  authority.  And  here  is  another 
great  inconvenience,  which  children  receive  from  the  ill 
examples  which  they  meet  with,  amongst  the  meaner 
servants.  They  are  wholly,  if  possible,  to  be  kept  from 
such  conversation  :  for  the  contagion  of  these  ill  prece- 
dents, both  in  civility  and  virtue,  horribly  infects  children, 
as  often  as  they  come  within  reach  of  it.  They  frequently 
learn  from  unbred  or  debauched  servants  such  language, 
nntowardly  tricks  and  vices,  as  otherwise  they  possibly 
would  be  ignorant  of,  all  their  lives. 

69.  'Tis  a  hard  matter  wholly  to  prevent  this  mischief. 
You  will  have  very  good  luck,  if  you  never  have  a  clownish 
or  vicious  servant,  and  if  from  them  your  children  never 
get  any  infection.  But  yet,  as  much  must  be  done  towards 
it,  as  can  be  ;  and  the  children  kept  as  much  as  may  be 
in  the  company  of  their  parents,  and  those  to  whose  care 
they  are  committed.  To  this  purpose,  their  being  in  their 
presence  should  be  made  easy  to  them  :  they  should  be 
allowed  the  liberties  and  freedom  suitable  to  their  ages, 
and  not  be  held  under  unnecessary  restraints,  when  in 
their  parents'  or  governor's  sight.  If  it  be  a  prison  to 
them,  'tis  no  wonder  they  should  not  like  it.  They  must 
not  be  hindered  from  being  children,  or  from  playing,  or 
doing  as  children,  but  from  doing  ill ;  all  other  liberty 

^  See  sec.  146. 


69,  70.  COMPANY  49 

is  to  be  allowed  them.  Next,  to  make  them  in  love  Avith 
the  company  of  their  parents,  they  should  receive  all  their 
good  things  there,  and  from  their  hands.  The  servants 
should  be  hindered  from  making  court  to  them,  by  giving 
them  strong  drink,  Avine,  fruit,  play-things,  and  other  such 
matters,  which  may  make  them  in  love  with  their  conver- 
sation. 

70.  Having  named  company,  I  am  almost  ready  to 
throw  away  my  pen,  and  trouble  you  no  farther  on  this 
subject.  For  since  that  does  more  than  all  precepts, 
rules,  and  instructions,  methinks  ^tis  almost  wholly  in 
vain  to  make  a  long  discourse  of  other  things,  and  to 
talk  of  that  almost  to  no  pui-pose.  For  you  will  be  ready 
to  say,  What  shall  I  do  with  my  son  ?  If  I  keep  him 
always  at  home,  he  will  be  in  danger  to  be  my  young 
master;  and  if  I  send  him  abroad,  how  is  it  possible  to 
keep  him  from  the  contagion  of  rudeness  and  vice,  which 
is  so  every  where  in  fashion  ?  In  my  house,  he  will 
perhaps  be  more  innocent,  but  more  ignorant,  too,  of 
the  world,  and  being  used  constantly  to  the  same  faces, 
and  little  company  will,  when  he  comes  abroad,  be  a 
sheepish  or  conceited  creature .-"^ 

[I  confess,  both  sides  have  their  inconveniences.  Being 
abroad,  it  is  true,  will  make  him  bolder,  and  better  able 
to  bustle  and  shift  amongst  boys  of  his  own  age ;  and  the 
emulation  of  school-fellows  often  puts  life  and  industry 
into  young  lads.  But  till  you  can  find  a  school,  wherein 
it  is  possible  for  the  master  to  look  after  the  manners  of 
his  scholars,  and  can  show  as  great  effects  of  his  care  of 
forming  their  minds  to  virtue,  and  their  carriage  to  good 
breeding,  as  of  forming  their  tongues  to  the  learned 
languages;  you  must  confess,  that  you  have  a  strange 
value  for  words,  when  preferring  the  languages  of  the 
ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  to  that  which  made  them 
such  brave  men,  you  think  it  worth  while  to  hazard  your 

^  Fifteen  lines  follow,  in  which  private  is  preferred  to  public 
education.  The  passage  is  replaced  here  by  the  much  lengthier 
statement  from  a  later  edition,  which  elaborates  the  point  (see 
Introduction). 

4 


60  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

son's  innocence  and  virtue  for  a  little  Greek  and  Latin. 
For,  aS"  ior -that  boldness  and  spirit,  which  lads  get 
amongst  their  play-fellows  at  school,  it  has  ordinarily 
such  a  mixture  of  rudeness,  and  an  ill-turned  confidence, 
that  those  misbecoming  and  disingenuous  ways  of  shift- 
ing in  the  world  must  be  unlearned,  and  all  the  tincture 
Avashed  out  again,  to  make  way  for  better  principles, 
and  such  manners  as  make  a  truly  worthy  man.  He 
that  considers  how  diametrically  opposite  the  skill  of 
living  well,  and  managing,  as  a  man  should  do,  his  affairs 
in  the  world,  is  to  that  malapertness,  tricking,  or  violence, 
learnt  among  school-boys,  will  think  the  faults  of  a  privater 
education  infinitely  to  be  preferred  to  such  improvements; 
and  will  take  care  to  preserve  his  child's  innocence  and 
modesty  at  home,  as  being  nearer  of  kin,  and  more  in  the 
way  of  those  qualities,  which  make  an  useful  and  able 
man.  Nor  does  any  one  find,  or  so  much  as  suspect,  that 
that  retirement  and  bashfulness,  which  their  daughters 
are  brought  up  in,  makes  them  less  knowing  or  less  able 
women.  Conversation,  when  they  come  into  the  world, 
soon  gives  them  a  becoming  assurance ;  and  whatsoever, 
beyond  that,  there  is  of  rough  and  boisterous,  may  in 
men  be  very  well  spared  too  :  for  courage  and  steadiness, 
as  I  take  it,  lie  not  in  roughness  and  ill  breeding. 
p  Virtue  is  harder  to  he  got  than  a  knowledge  of  the 
world ;  and  if  lost  in  a  young  man,  is  seldom  recovered, 
yheepishness  and  ignorance  of  the  world,  the  faults  im- 
puted to  a  private  education,  are  neither  the  necessary 
consequences  of  being  bred  at  home ;  nor,  if  they  were, 
are  they  incurable  evils.  Vice  is  the  more  stubborn,  as 
well  as  the  more  dangerous  evil  of  the  two ;  and  there- 
fore, in  the  first  place,  to  be  fenced  against.  If  that 
sheepish  softness,  which  often  enervates  those,  who  are 
bred  like  fondlings  at  home,  be  carefully  to  be  avoided, 
it  is  principally  so  for  virtue's  sake;  for  fear  lest  such 
a  yielding  temper  should  be  too  susceptible  of  vicious 
impressions,  and  expose  the  novice  too  easily  to  be  cor- 
rupted. A  young  man,  before  he  leaves  the  shelter  of 
his  father's  house,  and  the  guard  of  a  tutor,  should  be 


\  r      .V  .  H.-^t  ECONOMICS 

MANUAL  A^T^  »>..>  r^  ^^^^V^ 
70.    COMPANY       SANTA  BARBARA.  C*Uf.^'* 
i  \^.^\ 

fortified  with  resolution,  and  mane  acquainted  with. 
to  secure  his  virtue;  lest  he  skoi 

ruinous  course,  or  fatal  precipice,  before  he  is  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  the  dangers  of  conversation,  and  has 
steadiness  enough  not  to  yield  to  every  temptation.  Were 
it  not  for  this,  a  young  man^s  bashfulness  and  ignorance 
in  the  world  would  not  so  much  need  an  early  care.  Con- 
versation would  cure  it  in  a  great  measure ;  or  if  that  will 
not  do  it  early  enough,  it  is  only  a  stronger  reason  for 
a  good  tutor  at  home.  For,  if  pains  be  to  be  taken  to 
give  him  a  manly  air  and  assurance  betimes,  it  is  chiefly 
as  a  fence  to  his  virtue,  when  he  goes  into  the  world, 
under  his  own  conduct. 

It  is  preposterous,  therefore,  to  sacrifice  his  innocency 
to  the  attaining  of  confidence,  and  some  little  skill  of 
bustling  for  himself  among  others,  by  his  conversation 
with  ill-bred  and  vicious  boys ;  Avhen  the  chief  use  of 
that  sturdiness  and  standing  upon  his  own  legs,  is  only 
for  the  preservation  of  his  virtue.  For  if  confidence  or 
cunning  come  once  to  mix  with  vice,  and  support  his 
miscarriages  he  is  only  the  surer  lost;  and  you  must 
undo  again,  and  strip  him  of  that  he  has  got  from  his 
companions,  or  give  him  up  to  ruin.  Boys  will  unavoid- 
ably be  taught  assurance  by  conversation  with  men, 
Avhen  they  are  brought  into  it;  and  that  is  time  enough. 
Modesty  and  submission,  till  then,  better  fits  them  for 
instruction;  and  therefore  there  needs  not  any  great 
care  to  stock  them  with  confidence  beforehand.  That 
which  requires  most  time,  pains,  and  assiduity,  is  to  work 
into  them  the  principles  and  practice  of  virtue  and  good 
breeding.  This  is  the  seasoning  they  should  be  prepared 
with,  so  as  not  easily  to  be  got  out  again :  this  they  had 
need  to  be  well  provided  with.  For  conversation,  when 
they  come  into  the  world,  will  add  to  their  knowledge 
and  assurance,  but  be  too  apt  to  take  from  their  virtue ; 
which  therefore  they  ought  to  be  plentifully  stored  with, 
and  have  that  tincture  sunk  deep  into  them. 

How  they  should  be  fitted  for  conversation,  and  entered 
into  the  world,  when  they  are  ripe  for  it,  we  shall  con- 


% 


52  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

.sider  in  anotlier  place.  But  how  any  one's  being  put 
into  a  mixed  herd  of  unruly  boys,  and  then  learning  to 
wrangle  at  trap^  or  rook^  at  span  farthing,  fits  him  for 
civil  conversation  or  business  I  do  not  see.  And  what 
qualities  are  ordinarily  to  be  got  from  such  a  troop  of 
pjayrfellows  as  schools  usually  assemble  together,  from 
parents  of  all  kinds,  that  a  father  should  so  much  covet 
it,  is  hard  to  divine.  I  am  sure,  he  who  is  able  to  be  at 
the  charge  of  a  tutor  at  home,  may  there  give  his  son  a 
more  genteel  carriage,  more  manly  thoughts,  and  a  sense 
of  what  is  worthy  and  becoming,  with  a  greater  pro- 
ficiency in  learning  into  the  bargain,  and  ripen  him  up 
sooner  into  a  man,  than  any  at  school  can  do.  Not  that 
I  blame  the  school-master  in  this,  or  think  it  to  be  laid  to 
his  charge.  The  difference  is  great  between  two  or  three 
pupils  in  the  same  house,  and  three  or  fourscore  boys 
lodged  up  and  down.  For,  let  the  master's  industry  and 
skill  be  ever  so  great,  it  is  impossible  he  should  have 
50  or  100  scholars  under  his  eye  any  longer  than  they 
are  in  the  school  together :  nor  can  it  be  expected,  that 
'  he  should  instruct  them  successfully  in  any  thing  but 
their  books  ;  the  forming  of  their  minds  and  manners 
requiring  a  constant  attention,  and  particular  application 
to  every  single  boy  ;  which  is  impossible  in  a  immerous 
riock,  and  would  be  wholly  in  vain  (could  he  have  time 
to  study  and  correct  every  one's  particular  defects  and 
wrong  inclinations)  when  the  lad  Avas  to  be  left  to  him- 
self, or  the  prevailing  infection  of  his  fellows,  the  greatest 
part  of  the  four  and  twenty  hours. 

But  fathers,  observing  that  fortune  is  often  most 
successfully  courted  by  bold  and  bustling  men,  are  glad 
to  see  their  sons  pert  and  forward  betimes ;  take  it  for  a 
happy  omen,  that  they  will  be  thriving  men,  and  look  on 
the  tricks  they  play  their  school-fellows,  or  learn  from 
them,  as  a  proficiency  in  the  art  of  living,  and  making 
their  way  through  the  world.  But  I  must  take  the  liberty 
'  to  say,  that  he  that  lays  the  foundation  of  his  son's 
.  fortune  in  virtue  and  good  breeding  takes  the  only  sure 

1  Cheat. 


70.  COMPANY  53 

and  warrantable  way.  And  it  is  not  the  waggeries  or 
cheats  practised  among  school-boys,  it  is  not  their  rough- 
ness one  to  another,  nor  the  well-laid  plots  of  robbing  an 
orchard  together,  that  make  an  able  man;  but  the 
principles  of  justice,  generosity  and  sobriety,  joined  with 
observation  and  industry,  qualities  which  I  judge  school- 
boys do  not  learn  much  of  one  another.  And  if  a  young 
gentleman,  bred  at  home,  be  not  taught  more  of  them 
than  he  could  learn  at  school,  his  father  has  made  a  very 
ill  choice  of  a  tutor.  Take  a  boy  from  the  top  of  a 
grammar-school,  and  one  of  the  same  age,  bred  as  he 
should  be  in  his  father's  family,  and  bring  them  into 
good  company  together;  and  then  see  which  of  the  two 
will  have  the  more  manly  carriage,  and  address  himself 
with  the  more  becoming  assurance  to  strangers.  Here  I 
imagine  the  school-boy's  confidence  will  either  fail  or 
discredit  him;  and  if  it  be  such  as  fits  him  only  for  the 
conversation  of  boys,  he  had  better  be  without  it. 

Vice,  if  we  may  believe  the  general  complaint,  ripens 
so  fast  now-a-days,  and  runs  up  to  seed  so  early  in  young     |     (\ 
people,  that  it   is  impossible    to  keep    a   lad  from   the     I     '^ 
spreading  contagion,  if  you  will  venture  him  abroad  in 
the  herd,  and  trust  to  chance,  or  his  r>jvn  inclination,  for 
the  choice  of  his  company  at  school.  |  By  what  fate  vice 
has  so  thriven  amongst  us  these  few  years  past,  and  by 
Avhat  hands  it  has  been  nursed jip  int(4so  uncontrolled  a 
domiiiion,  I  shall  leave  to  others  to  enquire^   I  wish  that 
those  who  complain  of  the  great  decay  of  Christian  piety 
and  virtue  everywhere,  and  of  learning  and   acquired 
improvements  in  the  gentry  of   this  generation,  would 
consider  how  to  retrieve  them  in  the  next.    [This  I  am  ( 
sure,  that,  if  the  foundation  of  it  be  not  laid  in  the  educa-  1    V 
tion  and  principling  of  the  ;^T)uth,  all  other  endeavours    ^ 
will  be   in   vain.     And  if  the  innocence,  sobriety,  and    •  ^ 
industry  of  those  who  are  coming  up,  be  not  taken  care 
of  and  preserved,  it  will  be  ridiculous  to  expect,  that 
those  who  are  to  succeed  next  on  the  stage,  should  abound 
in  that  virtue,  ability,  and  learning,  \yhich  has  hitherto 
made  England  considerable  in  the  world.     I  Avas  going 


64  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

to  add  courage,  too,  though  it  has  been  looked  on  as  the 
natural  inheritance  of  Englishmen.  What  has  been  talked 
of  some  late  actions  at  sea,^  of  a  kind  unknown  to  our 
ancestors,  gives  me  occasion  to  say,  that  debauchery 
sinks  the  courage  of  men  ;  and  when  dissoluteness  has 
eaten  out  the  sense  of  true  honour,  .bravery  seldom  stays 
long  after  it.  And  I  think  it  impossible  to  find  an 
instance  of  any  nation,  however  renowned  for  their  valour, 
who  ever  kept  their  credit  in  arms,  or  made  themselves 
redoubtable  amongst  their  neighbours,  after  corruption 
had  once  broken  through,  and  dissolved  the  restraint  of 
discipline;  and  vice  was  grown  to  such  a  head,  that  it  durst 
show  itself  barefaced,  without  being  out  of  countenance. 

It  is  virtue  then,  direct  virtue,  which  is  the  hard  and 
valuable  part  to  be  aimed  at  in  education ;  and  not  a 
forward  pertness,  or  any  little  arts  of  shifting.  All  other 
considerations  and  accomplishments  should  give  way  and 
be  postponed  to  this.  This  is  the  solid  and  substantial 
good,  which  tutors  should  not  only  read  lectures,  and  talk 
of;  but  the  labour  and  art  of  education  should  furnish 
the  mind  with,  and  fasten  there,  and  never  cease  till  the 
young  man  had  a  true  relish  of  it,  and  placed  his  strength, 
his  glory,  and  his  pleasure  in  it. 

The  more  this  advances,  the  easier  way  will  be  made 
for  other  accomplishments  in  their  turns.  For  he  that  is 
brought  to  submit  to  virtue,  will  not  be  refractory,  or 
resty,  in  any  thing  that  becomes  him.  And  therefore  I 
cannot  but  prefer  breeding  of  a  young  gentleman  at 
home  in  his  father's  sight,  under  a  good  governor,  as 
much  the  best  and  safest  way  to  this  great  and  main  end 
of  education,  when  it  can  be  had,  and  is  ordered  as  it 
should  be.  Gentlemen's  houses  are  seldom  without 
variety  of  company  :  they  should  use  their  sons  to  all  the 

1  This  pa'^sape  appeared  in  the  third  edition  of  1695,  but  not  in 
the  first  edition.  Possibly  the  reference  is  to  the  events  of  the 
year  1695,  and  more  especially  to  the  conduct  of  the  Marquis  of 
Carmai-then,  who  withdrew  his  fleet  into  Milford  Haven,  and  left 
our  trade  a  prey  to  French  cruisers  and  privateers  (Burnet's  Hintory 
of  liin  Own  Times,  vi.). 


70.  COMPANY— 71.  EXAMPLE  55 

strange  faces  that  come  there,  and  engage  them  in  con- 
versation, with  men  of  parts  and  breeding,  as  soon  as 
they  are  capable  of  it.  And  why  those,  who  live  in  the 
country,  should  not  take  them  with  them,  when  they  make 
visits  of  civility  to  their  neighbours,  I  know  not :  this  I 
am  sure,  a  father  that  breeds  his  son  at  home,  has  the 
opportunity  to  have  him  more  in  his  own  company,  and 
there  give  him  what  encouragement  he  thinks  fit ;  and  can 
keep  him  better  from  the  taint  of  servants,  and  the 
meaner  sort  of  people,  than  is  possible  to  be  done  abroad. 
But  what  shall  be  resolved  in  the  case,  must  in  great 
measure  be  left  to  the  parents,  to  be  determined  by  their 
circumstances  and  conveniences.  Only  I  think  it  the 
worst  sort  of  good  husbandry,  for  a  father  not  to  strain 
himself  a  little  for  his  son's  breeding;  which,  let  his  con- 
dition be  what  it  will,  is  the  best  portion  he  can  leave 
him.  But  if,  after  all,  it  shall  be  thought  by  some,  that 
the  breeding  at  home  has  too  little  company,  and  that  at 
ordinary  schools,  not  such  as  it  should  be  for  a  young 
gentleman ;  I  think  there  might  be  ways  found  out  to 
avoid  the  inconveniences  on  the  one  side  and  the  other.] 
71.  Example. — -Having  under  consideration  how  great 
the  influence  of  company  is,  and  how  prone  we  are  all, 
especially  children,  to  imitation,  I  must  here  take  the 
liberty  to  mind  parents  of  this  one  thing,  viz.  That  he 
that  will  have  his  son  have  a  respect  for  him  and  his 
orders,  must  himself  have  a  great  reverence  for  his  son. 
Maxima  debetur  pueris  reverentia}  You  must  do  nothing 
before  him,  which  you  would  not  have  him  imitate.  If 
anything  'scape  you,^  which  you  would  have  pass  for  a 
fault  in  him,  he  will  be  sure  to  shelter  himself  under  your 
example,  and  how  then  you  will  be  able  to  come  at  him, 
to  correct  it  in  the  right  way,  1  do  not  easily  see.  And 
if  you  will  punish  him  for  it,  he  cannot  look  on  it  as  a 
thing  which  reason  condemns,  since  you  practise  it ;  but 
he  will  be  apt  to  interpret  it  the  peevishness  and  arbi- 

^  "  The  most  scrupulous  respect  is  due  to  boyhood "  (Juvenal, 
Snlires  XIV  ,47). 
^  I.e.,  if  you  allow  yourself  to  do  anything. 


66  THOUGHTS  CONCEKNING  EDUCATION 

trarj  imperiousness  of  a  father,  which,  without  any  ground 
for  it,  would  deny  his  son  the  liberty  and  pleasures  he 
takes  himself.  Or  if  you  would  have  it  thought  it  is 
a  liberty  belonging  to  riper  years,  and  not  to  a  child,  you 
add  but  a  new  temptation,  since,  you  must  always  remem- 
ber, that  children  affect  to  be  men  earlier  than  is  thought : 
and  they  love  breeches,  not  for  their  cut  or  ease,  but 
because  the  having  them  is  a  mark  or  a  step  towards 
manhood.  What  I  say  of  the  father's  carriage  before 
his  children,  must  extend  itself  to  all  those  who  have  any 
authority  over  them,  or  for  whom  he  would  have  them 
have  any  respect. 

72.  Thus  all  the  actions  of  childishness,  and  un- 
fashionable carriage,  and  whatever  time  and  age  will  of 
itself  be  sure  to  reform,  being  exempt  from  the  discipline 
of  the  rod,  there  will  not  be  so  much  need  of  beating 
children,  as  is  generally  made  use  of.  To  which,  if  we 
add  learning  to  read,  write,  dance,  foreign  language, 
etc.,  as  under  the  same  privilege,  there  will  be  but  very 
rarely  any  occasion  for  blows  or  force  in  an  ingenuous 
education.  The  right  way  to  teach  them  those  things, 
is,  to  give  them  a  liking  and  inclination  to  what  you 
propose  to  them  to  be  learned,  and  that  will  engage  their 
industry  and  application.  This  I  think  no  hard  matter 
to  do,  if  children  be  handled  as  they  should  be,  and  the 
rewards  and  punishments  above-mentioned  be  carefully 
applied,  and  with  them  these  few  rules  observed  in  the 
method  of  instructing  them.^ 

73.  1.  Tasli'. — None  of  the  things  they  are  to  learn 
should  ever  be  made  a  burden  to  them,  or  imposed  on 
them  as  a  task.  Whatever  is  so  proposed,  presently 
becomes  irksome :  the  mind  takes  an  aversion  to  it, 
though  before  it  were  a  thing  of  delight  or  indifFerency. 
Let  a  child  be  but  ordered  to  whip  his  top  at  a  certain 
time  every  day,  whether  he  has,  or  has  not  a  mind  to  it ; 
let  this  be  but  required  of  him  as  a  duty,  wherein  he 
must  spend  so  many  hours  morning  and  afternoon,  and 
see  whether  he  will  not  soon  be  weary  of  any  play  at 

1  See  sees.  43-61,  84,  107  (at  end),  124. 


73.  TASK— 74.  DISPOSITION  57 

this  rate.  Is  it  not  so  with  grown  men  ?  What  they  do 
cheerfully  of  themselves,  do  they  not  presently  grow 
sick  of,  and  can  no  more  endure,  as  soon  as  they  find  it 
is  expected  of  them  as  a  duty  ?  Children  have  as  much 
a  mind  to  show  that  they  are  free,  that  their  own  good 
actions  come  from  themselves,  that  they  are  absolute  and 
independent,  as  any  of  the  proudest  of  you  grown  men, 
think  of  them  as  you  please. 

74.  2.  DisjKmtion. — As  a  consequence  of  this,  they 
should  seldom  be  put  upon  doing  even  those  things  you 
have  got  an  inclination  in  them  to,  but  when  they  have 
a  mind  and  disposition  to  it.  He  that  loves  reading, 
writing,  music,  etc.,  finds  yet  in  himself  certain  seasons 
wherein  those  things  have  no  relish  to  him ;  and,  if  at 
that  time  he  forces  himself  to  it,  he  only  pothers  and 
wearies  himself  to  no  purpose.  So  it  is  with  children. 
This  change  of  temper  should  be  carefully  observed  in 
them,  and  the  favourable  seasons  of  aptitude  and  in- 
clination be  heedfully  laid  hold  of,  to  set  them  upon  , 
anything.^  By  this  means  a  great  deal  of  time  and 
tiring  would  be  saved  :  for  a  child  will  learn  three  times 
as  much  when  he  is  in  tune._ji.s  hi^  wjH  with  double  the 
time  and  pains,  when  he  goes  awkwardl^^jir  is  draggflff 
umvilhngly  i^^.'  If  this  were~ininded  as  it  should, 
children  might  be  permitted  to  weary  themselves  with 
play,  and  yet  have  time  enough  to  learn  what  is  suited 
to  the  capacity  of  each  age.  And  if  things  were 
ordered  right,  learning  anything  they  should  be  taught, 
might  be  made  as  much  a  recreation  to  their  play,  as 
their  play  is  to  their  learning.  The  pains  are  equal  on 
both  sides  :  nor  is  it  that  which  troubles  them,  for  they 
love  to  be  busy,  and  the  change  and  variety  is  that 
which  naturally  delights  them.  The  only  odds  is,  in 
that  which  we  call  play  they  act  at  liberty,  and  eraplo}^ 

^  "In  all  pedagogy  the  great  thing  is  to  strike  the  iron  while  hot, 
and  to  seize  the  wave  of  the  pupil's  interest  in  each  successive 
subject  before  its  ebb  has  come "  (William  James,  Psijchologij, 
"  Briefer  Course,"  chap,  xxv.;  on  the  doctrine  of  "  Learning  without 
Compulsion,"  see  Introduction,  p.  15). 


68  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

their  pains  (whereof  you  may  observe  them  never 
sparing)  freely ;  but  what  they  are  to  learn,  they  are 
driven  to  it,  called  on  or  compelled.  This  is  that,  that 
at  first  entrance  balks  and  cools  them ;  they  want  their 
liberty  :  get  them  but  to  ask  their  tutor  to  teach  them, 
as  they  do  often  their  play-fellows,  instead  of  this  call- 
ing upon  them  to  learn,  and  they  being  satisfied  that 
they  act  as  freely  in  this,  as  they  do  in  other  things, 
they  will  go  on  with  as  much  pleasure  in  it,  and  it  will 
not  differ  from  their  other  sports  and  play.  By  these 
ways,  carefully  pursued,  I  guess  a  child  may  be  brought 
to  desire  to  be  taught  any  thing  you  have  a  mind  he 
should  learn.  The  hardest  part,  I  confess,  is  with  the 
first  or  eldest ;  but  when  once  he  is  set  right,  it  is  easy 
by  him  to  lead  the  rest  whither  one  will. 

75.  Task. — Though  it  be  past  doubt,  that  the  fittest 
time  for  children  to  learn  anything  is  when  their  minds 
are  in  tune,  and  Avell  disposed  to  it ;  when  neither 
flagging  of  spirit,  nor  intentness  of  thought  upon  some- 
thing else,  makes  them  awkward  and  averse ;  yet  two 
things  are  to  be  taken  care  of :  1 .  That  these  seasons 
either  not  being  warily  observed  and  laid  hold  on  as 
often  as  they  return ;  or  else  not  returning  as  often  as 
they  should  (as  always  happens  in  the  ordinary  method 
and  discipline  of  education,  when  blows  and  compulsion 
have  raised  an  aversion  in  the  child  to  the  thing  he  is  to 
learn),  the  improvement  of  the  child  be  not  thereby 
neglected,  and  so  he  be  let  grow  into  a  habitual  idle- 
ness, and  confirmed  in  this  indisposition.  2.  That 
though  other  things  are  ill  learned  when  the  mind  is 
either  indisposed,  or  otherwise  taken  up;  yet  it  is  a 
great  matter,  and  worth  our  endeavours,  to  teach  the 
mind  to  get  the  mastery  over  itself;  and  to  be  able, 
upon  choice,  to  take  itself  off  from  the  hot  pursuit  of 
one  thing,  and  set  itself  upon  another  with  facility  and 
delight ;  or  at  any  time  to  shake  off  its  sluggishness,  and 
vigorously  employ  itself  about  what  reason,  or  the 
advice  of  another,  shall  direct.  This  is  to  be  done  in 
children,  by  trying  them  sometimes,  when  they  are  by 


75.  TASK— 76.  COMPULSION  59 

laziness  unbent^  or  by  avocation  bent  another  way,  and 
endeavouring  to  make  them  buckle  to  the  thing  pro- 
posed. If  by  this  means  the  mind  can  get  a  habitual 
dominion  over  it  self,  lay  by  ideas  or  business,  as 
occasion  requires,  and  betake  itself  to  new  and  less 
acceptable  employments,  without  reluctancy  or  dis- 
composure, it  will  be  an  advantage  of  more  consequence 
than  Latin,  or  logic,  or  most  of  those  things  children  are 
usually  required  to  learn. 

76.  Covipidsion. — ^Children  being  more  active  and 
busy  in  that  age,  than  [in]  any  other  part  of  their  life, 
and  being  indifferent  to  anything  they  can  do,  so  they 
may  be  but  doing,  dancing  and  Scotch-hoppers^  would 
be  the  same  thing  to  them,  were  the  encouragements 
and  discouragements  equal.  But  to  things  we  would 
have  them  learn,  the  great  and  only  discouragement  I 
can  observe,  is,  that  they  are  called  to  it,  ^tis  made  their 
business ;  they  are  teased  and  chid  about  it,  and  do  it 
with  trembling  and  apprehension  ;  or,  when  they  come 
willingly  to  it,  are  kept  too  long  at  it,  till  they  are  quite 
tired ;  all  »which  intrenches  too  much  on  that  natural 
freedom  they  extremely  affect,  and  ^tis  that  liberty 
alone,  which  gives  the  true  relish  and  delight  to  their 
ordinary  play-games.  Turn  the  tables,  and  you  will 
find  they  will  soon  change  their  application;  especially 
if  they  see  the  examples  of  others,  whom  they  esteem 
and  think  above  themselves.  And  if  the  things  they 
see  others  do,  be  ordered  so  that  they  are  persuaded,  it 
is  the  privilege  of  an  age  or  condition  above  theirs,  then 
ambition,  and  the  desire  still  to  get  forward,  and  higher, 
and  to  be  like  those  above  them,  will  give  them  an 
inclination  which  will  set  them  on  work  in  a  way  Avhere- 
in  they  will  go  on  with  vigour  and  pleasure,  enjoying  in 
it  their  dearly  beloved  freedom ;  which  if  it  brings  with 
it  also  the  satisfaction  of  credit  and  reputation,  I  am  apt 
to  think  there  will  need  no  other  spur  to  excite  their 
application  and  assiduity,  as  much  as  is  necessary.'     1 

^  Now  known  as  "hop-sco'ch  " 

2  Cf.  sees.  103,  128,  129,  148,  149,  167,  202. 


60  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

confess^  there  needs  patience  and  skill,  gentleness  and 
attention,  and  a  prudent  conduct  to  attain  this  at  first. 
But  why  have  you  a  tutor  if  there  needed  no  pains  ? 
But  when  this  is  once  established,  all  the  rest  will 
follow  more  easily,  than  in  any  more  severe  and  im- 
perious discipline.  And  I  think  it  no  hard  matter, 
to  gain  this  point;  I  am  sure  it  will  not  be,  where 
children  have  no  ill  examples  set  before  them.  The 
great  danger  therefore  I  apprehend,  is  only  from 
servants  and  other  ill-ordered  children,  or  such  other 
vicious  or  foolish  people,  who  spoil  children,  both  by  the 
ill  pattern  they  set  before  them  in  their  own  ill  manners, 
and  by  giving  them  together,  the  two  things  they 
should  never  have  at  once ;  I  mean  vicious  pleasures,  and 
commen  dation . 
'  77.  Chiding. — As  children  should  very  seldom  be  cor- 
rected by  blows ;  so,  I  think,  frequent,  and  especially, 
passionate  chiding,  of  almost  as  ill  consequence.  It 
lessens  the  authority  of  the  parents  and  the  respect  of 
the  child ;  for  I  bid  you  still  remember,  they  distinguish 
early  between  passion  and  reason  :  and  as  they  cannot 
but  have  a  reverence  for  what  comes  from  the  latter,  so 
they  quickly  grow  into  a  contempt  of  the  former:  or  if  it 
causes  a  present  terror,  yet  it  soon  Avears  off ;  and  natural 
inclination  will  easily  learn  to  slight  such  scare-crows, 
which  make  a  noise,  but  are  not  animated  by  reason. 
Children  being  to  be  restrained  by  the  parents  only  in 
vicious  (which,  in  their  tender  years,  are  only  a  few) 
things,  a  look  or  nod  only  ought  to  correct  them,  when 
they  do  amiss  :  or,  if  words  are  sometimes  to  be  used, 
\they  ought  to  be  grave,  kind,  and  sober,  representing 
jthe  ill  or  unbecomingness  of  the  fault,  rather  than  a 
ihasty  rating  of  the  child  for  it,  which  makes  him  not 
sufficiently  distinguish  whether  your  dislike  be  not  more 
directed  to  him  than  his  fault. 

78.  Obstinacy. — I  foresee  here  it  will  be  objected  to 
me  :  What  then,  will  you  have  children  never  beaten  nor 
chid  for  any  fault  ?  This  will  be  to  let  loose  tlie  reins  to 
all  kind  of  disorder.     Not  so  much  as  is  imagined,  if  a 


78.  OBSTINACY  61 

right  course  has  been  taken  in  the  first  seasoning  of  their 
minds,  and  implanting  that  awe  of  their  parents  above- 
mentioned.  For  beating,  by  constant  observation,  is 
found  to  do  little  good,  where  the  smart  of  it  is  all  the 
punishment  that  is  feared  or  felt  in  it ;  for  the  influence 
of  that  quickly  wears  out,  with  the  memory  of  it.  But 
yet  there  is  one,  and  but  one  fault,  for  which,  I  think, 
children  should  be  beaten ;  and  that  is  obstinacy  or  re- 
bellion. And  in  this,  too,  I  would  have  it  ordered  so,  if 
it  can  be,  that  the  shame  of  the  whipping,  and  not  the 
pain,  should  be  the  greatest  part  of  the  punishment. 
Shame  of  doing  atniss,  and  deserving  chastisement,  is  the 
only  true  restraint  belonging  to  virtue.  The  smart  of  the 
rod,  if  shame  accompanies  it  not,  soon  ceases,  and  is  for- 
gotten, and  will  quickly,  by  use,  lose  its  terror.  I  have 
known  the  children  of  a  person  of  quality  kept  in  awe, 
by  the  fear  of  having  their  shoes  pulled  off,  as  much  as 
others  by  apprehension  of  a  rod  hanging  over  them. 
Some  such  punishment  I  think  better  than  beating ;  for 
'tis  shame  of  the  fault,  and  the  disgrace  that  attends  it, 
that  the}'  should  stand  in  fear  of,  rather  than  pain,  if  you 
would  have  them  have  a  temper  truly  ingenuous.  But 
stubbornness  and  an  obstinate  disobedience  nmst  be 
mastered  with  force  and  blows  :^  for  this  there  is  no 
other  remedy.  Whatever  particular  action  you  bid  him 
do^  or  forbear,  you  must  be  sure  to  see  yourself  obeyed ; 
no  quarter  in  this  case,  no  resistance.  For  when  once  it 
comes  to  be  a  trial  of  skill,  a  contest  for  mastery  betwixt 
you,  as  it  is,  if  you  command,  and  he  refuses,  you  must 
be  sure  to  carry  it,  whatever  blows  it  costs,  if  a  nod  or 
words  Avill  not  prevail ;  unless,  for  ever  after,  you  intend 
to  live  in  obedience  to  your  son.  A  prudent  and  kind 
mother,  of  my  acquaintance,  was  on  such  an  occasion, 
forced  to  whip  her  little  daughter,  at  her  first  coming 
home  from  nurse,  eight  times  successively,  the  same 
morning,  before  she  could  master  her  stubbornness,  and 

^  "  Lying,  and,  in  a  less  degree,  obstinacy,  seem  to  nie  to  be  those 
[childish  actions]  whose  birth  and  progress  should  in  every  case 
alone  be  combated"  (Montaigne,  i.,  chap,  ix.,  "On  Liars"). 


62  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

obtain  a  compliance  in  a  very  easy  and  indifferent  matter. 
If  .she  had  left  off  sooner,  and  stopped  at  the  seventh 
whipping,  she  had  spoiled  the  child  for  ever;  and,  by 
her  unprevailing  blows,  only  confirmed  her  refractoriness, 
very  hardly  afterwards  to  be  cured:  but  wisely  persisting, 
till  she  had  bent  her  mind  and  suppled  her  will,  the  only 
end  of  correction  and  chastisement,  she  established  her 
authority  throughly  in  the  very  first  occasions,  and  had 
ever  after  a  very  ready  compliance  and  obedience  in  all 
things  from  her  daughter.  For,  as  this  was  the  first  time, 
so,  1  think,  it  was  the  last  too  she  ever  struck  her.^ 

'^  This,  if  well  reflected  on,  would  make  people  more 
wary  in  the  use  of  the  rod  and  the  cudgel ;  and  keej) 
them  from  being  so  apt  to  think  beating  the  safe  and 
universal  remedy,  to  be  applied  at  random,  on  all  occa- 
sions. This  is  certain,  however,  if  it  does  no  good,  it 
does  great  harm ;  if  it  reached  not  the  mind,  and  makes 
not  the  will  supple,  it  hardens  the  offender;  and  what- 
ever pain  he  has  suffered  for  it,  it  does  but  endear  to  him 
his  beloved  stubbornness,  which  has  got  him  this  time  the 
victory,  and  prepares  him  to  contest  and  hope  for  it  for 
the  future.  Thus,  I  doubt  not  but  by  ill-ordered  correc- 
tion, many  have  been  taught  to  be  obstinate  and  refrac- 
tory, who  otherwise  would  have  been  very  pliant  and 
tractable.  For,  if  you  punish  a  child,  so  as  if  it  were 
only  to  revenge  the  past  fault,  which  has  raised  your 
choler,  what  operation  can  this  have  upon  his  mind, 
which  is  the  part  to  be  amended  ?  If  there  were  no 
sturdy  wilfulness  of  mind  mixed  with  his  fault,  there 
was  nothing  in  it  that  needed  the  severity  of  blows.  A 
kind,  or  grave  admonition  would  have  been  enough  to 
remedy  the  faults  of  frailty,  forgetfulness,  or  inadver- 
tency, as  much  as  they  needed.  But,  if  there  were  a 
perverseness  in  the  will,  if  it  were  a  designed,  resolved 
disobedience,  the  punishment  is  not  to  be  measured  by  the 
greatness  or  smallness  of  the  matter  wherein  it  appeared, 

*  The  mother  does  not  seem  to  have  applied  Locke's  own  caution : 
'•  Be  sure  that  it  is  obstinacy,  and  nothing  else." 
^  Sec.  77  in  first  edition. 


78-80.  OBSTINACY  63 

but  by  the  opposition  it  carries,  and  stands  in,  to  that 
respect  and  submission  [that]  is  due  to  the  father's  orders, 
and  must  always  be  rigorously  exacted,  and  the  blows  by 
pauses  laid  on,  till  they  reach  the  mind,  and  you  per- 
ceive the  signs  of  a  true  sorrow,  shame,  and  resolution  of 
obedience.  This,  1  confess,  requii'es  something  more  than 
setting  children  a  task,  and  whipping  them  without  any 
more  ado,  if  it  be  not  done,  and  done  to  our  fancy.  This 
requires  care,  attention,  observation,  and  a  nice  study  of 
children's  tempers,  and  weighing  their  faults  well,  before 
we  come  to  this  sort  of  punishment.  But  is  not  that 
better,  than  always  to  have  the  rod  in  hand,  as  the  only 
instrument  of  government;  and,  by  frequent  use  of  it,  on 
all  occasions,  misapply  and  render  inefficacious  this  last 
and  useful  remedy  where  there  is  need  of  it  ?  Foi',  what 
else  can  be  expected,  when  it  is  promiscuously  used  upon 
every  little  slip,  when  a  mistake  in  concordance,  or  a 
Avrong  position  in  verse,  shall  have  the  severity  of  the 
lash,  in  a  well-tempered  and  industrious  lad,  as  surely  as 
a  wilful  crime  in  an  obstinate  and  perverse  offender  'i  How 
can  such  a  way  of  correction  be  expected  to  do  good  on 
the  mind,  and  set  that  right,  which  is  the  only  thing  to 
be  looked  after;  and,  when  set  right,  brings  all  the  rest 
that  you  can  desire  along  with  it  ? 

79.  Where  a  wrong  bent  of  the  will  wants  not  amend- 
ment, there  can  be  no  need  of  blows.  All  other  faults, 
where  the  mind  is  rightly  disposed,  and  refuses  not  the 
gof'ernment  and  authority  of  the  father  or  tutor,  are  but 
mistakes,  and  may  often  be  overlooked ;  or,  when  they 
are  taken  notice  of,  need  no  other  but  the  gentle  remedies 
of  advice,  direction,  and  reproof;  till  the  repeated  and 
wilful  neglect  of  those,  shows  the  fault  to  be  in  the  mind, 
and  that  a  manifest  perverseness  of  the  will  lies  at  the 
root  of  their  disobedience.  But  when  ever  obstinacy, 
which  is  an  open  defiance,  appears,  that  cannot  be  winked 
at  or  neglected,  but  must,  in  the  first  instanc  e,  be  subdued 
and  mastered ;  only  care  must  be  had,  that  we  mistake  not; 
and  we  must  be  sure  it  is  obstinacy,  and  nothing  else. 

80.  But  since  the  occasions  of  punishment,  especially 


64  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

beating,  are  as  much  to  be  avoided  as  may  be,  I  think  it 
should  not  be  often  brought  to  this  point.  If  the  awe 
I  spoke  of  be  once  got,  a  look  will  be  sufficient  in  most 
cases.  Nor  indeed  should  the  same  carriage,  seriousness 
or  application  be  expected  from  young  children  as  from 
those  of  riper  growth.  They  must  be  permitted,  as  I 
said,  the  foolish  and  childish  actions,  suitable  to  their 
years,'  without  taking  notice  of  them ;  inadvertency, 
carelessness,  and  gaiety,  is  the  character  of  that  age.  I 
think  the  severity  I  spoke  of,  is  not  to  extend  it  self  to 
such  unseasonable  restraints.  Keep  them  from  vice  and 
vicious  dispositions,  and  such  a  kind  of  behaviour  in 
general  will  come,  with  every  degree  of  their  age,  as  is 
suitable  to  that  age,  and  the  company  they  ordinarily 
converse  with;  and  as  they  grow  in  years,  they  will  grow 
in  attention  and  application.  But  that  your  words  may 
always  carry  weight  and  authority  with  them,  if  it  shall 
happen,  upon  any  occasion,  that  you  bid  him  leave  off 
the  doing  of  any  even  childish  things,  you  must  be  sure 
to  carry  the  point,  and  not  let  him  have  the  mastery. 
But  yet,  I  say,  I  would  have  the  father  seldom  interpose 
his  authority  and  command  in  these  cases,  or  in  any  other, 
but  such  as  have  a  tendency  to  vicious  habits.  I  think 
there  are  better  ways  of  prevailing  with  themi  and  a 
gentle  persuasion  in  reasoning  (when  the  first  point  of 
submission  to  your  will  is  got)  will  most  times  do  much 
better. 

81.  Reasoniny. — It  will  perhaps  be  wondered,  that  I 
mention  reasoning  with  children  :  and  yet  I  cannot  but 
think  that  the  true  way  of  dealing  with  them.  They 
understand  it  as  early  as  they  do  language;  and,  if  I 
misobserve  not^  they  love  to  be  treated  as  rational 
creatures,  sooner  than  is  imagined.  'Tis  a  pride  should 
be  cherished  in  them,  and,  as  much  as  can  be,  made  the 
greatest  instrument  to  turn  them  by. 

But  when  I  talk  of  reasoning,  I  do  not  intend  any 
other,  but  such  as  is  suited  to  the  child's  capacity  and 
apprehension.  Nobody  can  think  a  boy  of  three  or 
seven  years  old,  should  be  argued  with,  as  a  grown  man. 


81.  REASONING— 82.  EXAMPLES  65 

Long  discourses,  and  philosophical  reasonings,  at  best, 
amaze  and  confound,  but  do  not  instruct,  children.  When 
I  say  therefore,  that  they  must  be  treated  as  rational 
creatures,  I  mean,  that  you  should  make  them  sensible, 
by  the  mildness  of  your  carriage,  and  the  composure, 
even  in  your  correction  of  them,  that  what  you  do  is 
reasonable  in  you,  and  useful  and  necessary  for  them; 
and  that  it  is  not  out  of  caprice,  passion,  or  fancy,  that 
you  command  or  forbid  them  any  thing.  This  they  are 
capable  of  understanding;  and  there  is  no  virtue  they 
should  be  excited  to,  nor  fault  they  should  be  kept  from, 
which  I  do  not  think  they  may  be  convinced  of :  but  it 
must  be  by  such  reasons  as  their  age  and  understanding 
are  capable  of,  and  those  proposed  always  in  very  few 
and  plain  words.  The  foundations  on  which  several 
duties  are  built,  and  the  fountains  of  right  and  wrong, 
from  which  they  spring,  are  not,  perhaps,  easily  to  be 
let  into  the  minds  of  grown  men,  not  used  to  abstract 
their  thoughts  from  common  received  opinions.  Much 
less  are  children  capable  of  reasonings  from  remote 
principles.  They  cannot  conceive  the  force  of  long- 
deductions  :  the  reasons  that  move  them  must  be  obvious, 
and  level  to  their  thoughts,  and  such  as  may  (if  I  may 

!{  so  say)  be  felt  and  touched.  But  yet,  if  their  age,^^ 
\  temper,  and  inclinations,  be  considered,  they  will  never)! 
<  want  such  motives,  as  may  be  sufficient  to  convince  them/' 
(  If  there  be  no  other  more  particular,  yet  these  will  always  I 
be  intelligible,  and  of  force,  to  deter  them  from  any  fault,  ) 
fit  to  be  taken  notice  of  in  them,  [viz.)  that  it  will  be  a  \ 
I  discredit  and  disgrace  to  them,  and  displease  you. 

82.  Examples. — But,  of  all  the  ways  whereby  cliildren 
are  to  be  instructed,  and  their  In  aim  P^*^  fnyinQrl^  flia 
pltHiicsl.  tosiesl.  and  most  etticacionSj  iw-  to  set-  before 
theifm^s  the  examples  of  those  titling"  Y""  wnnM  lioTro 
them  do  or  avoid.  Which,  when  they  are  pointed  out  to 
tfrem,  in  the  practice  of  persons  within  their  knowledge, 
with  some  reflections  on  their  beauty  or  unbecomingness, 
are  of  more  force  to  draw  or  deter  their  imitation,  than 
any  discourses  which  can  be  made  to  them.    Virtues  and 


66  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

vices  can  by  no  words  be  so  plainly  set  before  their 
understandings,  as  the  actions  of  other  men  will  show 
them,  when  you  direct  their  observation,  and  bid  them 
view  this  or  that  good  or  bad  quality  in  their  practice. 
And  the  beauty  or  uncomeliness  of  many  things,  in  good 
and  ill  breeding,  will  be  better  learnt,  and  make  deeper 
impressions  on  them,  in  the  examples  of  others,  than  from 
any  rules  or  instructions  that  can  be  given  about  them. 

This  is  a  method  to  be  used,  not  only  whilst  they  are 
young,  but  to  be  continued,  even  as  long  as  they  shall 
be  under  another's  tuition  or  conduct.  Nay,  I  know  not 
whether  it  be  not  the  best  way  to  be  used  by  a  father, 
as  long  as  he  shall  think  fit,  on  any  occasion,  to  reform 
any  thing  he  wishes  mended  in  his  son ;  nothing  sinking 
so  gently  and  so  deep,  into  men's  minds,  as  example. 
And  what  ill  they  either  overlook,  or  indulge  in  them 
themselves,  they  cannot  but  dislike,  and  be  ashamed  of, 
when  it  is  set  before  them  in  another. 

83.  Whipping. — It  may  be  doubted  concerning  whip- 
ping, Avhen,  as  the  last  remedy,  it  comes  to  be  necessary, 
at  what  times,  and  by  whom  it  should  be  done :  whether 
presently  upon  the  committing  the  fault,  whilst  it  is  yet 
fresh  and  hot;  and  whether  parents  themselves  should 
beat  their  children.  As  to  the  first,  I  think  it  should 
not  be_done  presently,  lest  passion  mingle  with  it  and 
so,  though  it  exceed  the  just  proportion,  yet  it  lose  the 
authority ;  for  even  children  discern  when  we  do  things 
in  passion.  But,  as  I  said  before,  that  has  most  weight 
with  them,  that  appears  sedately  to  come  from  their 
parents'  reason;  and  they  are  not  without  this  distinc- 
tion.^ Next,  if  you  have  any  discreet  servant  capable 
of  it,  and  has  the  place  of  governing  your  child  (for  if 
you  have  a  tutor,  there  is  no  doubt)  I  think  it  is  best 
jhe^smart  should  cmrp  mnrp  iTmnftt^iatply  from  another's 
hand,  thou^h^by  tha-pn.reni's  order,  who  should  see  it 
done ;  whereby  the  parent's  authority  will  be  preserved,^ 
and  the  child's  aversion  for  the  pain  it  suffers  rather  be 

^  I.e.,  this  power  of  distinguishing. 
2  "Preferred"  in  text. 


83,  84.  WHIPPING  67 

turned  on  the  person  that  immediately  inflicts  it.  For 
I  would  have  a  father  seldom  strike  his  child,  but  upon 
very  urgent  necessity,  and  as  the  last  remedy :  and  then 
perhaps  it  will  be  fit  to  do  it  so  that  the  child  should 
not  quickly  forget  it. 

84.  But,  as  I  said  before,  beating  is  the  worst,  and 
therefore  the  last,  means  to  be  used  in  the  correction  of 
children  ;  and  that  onl}^  in  cases  of  extremity,  after  all 
gentler  ways  have  been  tried,  and  proved  unsuccessful : 
which,  if  well  observed,  there  will  be  very  seldom  any 
need  of  blows.  For,  it  not  being  to  be  imagined  that  a 
child  will  often,  if  ever,  dispute  his  father's  present  com- 
mand in  any  particular  instance ;  and  the  father  not 
rigorously  interposing  his  absolute  authority  in  positive 
rules,  concerning  childish  or  indifferent  actions,  wherein 
his  son  is  to  have  his  liberty  :  nor  concerning  his  learning 
or  improvement  wherein  there  is  no  compulsion  to  be 
used,-"-  there  remains  only  the  prohibition  of  some  vicious 
actions,  wherein  a  child  is  capable  of  obstinacy,  and 
consequently  can  deserve  beating :  and  so  there  will  be 
but  very  few  occasions  of  that  discipline  to  be  used  by 
any  one,  who  considers  well,  and  orders  his  child's  educa- 
tion as  it  should  be.  For  the  first  seven  years,  what 
vices  can  a  child  be  guilty  of,  but  lying,  or  some  ill- 
natured  tricks ;  the  repeated  commission  whereof,  after 
his  father's  direct  command  against  it,  shall  bring  him 
into  'the  condemnation  of  obstinacy,  and  the  chastise- 
ment of  the  rod  ?  If  any  vicious  inclination  in  him  be, 
in  the  first  appearance  and  instances  of  it,  treated  as  it 
should  be,  first  with  your  wonder,  and  then,  if  returning 
again  a  second  time,  discountenanced  with  the  severe 
brow  of  the  father,  tutor,  and  all  about  him,  and  a  treat- 
ment suitable  to  the  state  of  discredit  before-mentioned,^ 
and  this  continued  till  he  be  made  sensible  and  ashamed 
of  his  fault,  I  imagine  there  will  be  no  need  of  any  other 
correction,  nor  ever  any  occasion  to  come  to  blows.  The 
necessity  of  such  chastisement  is  usually  the  consequence 

^  See  Introiluction,  p.  IS. 

2  See  sees.  53,  56-60,  72,  107,  124-129. 


68  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

only  of  former  indulgencies  or  neglects.  If  vicious 
inclinations  were  watched  from  the  beginning,  and  the 
first  irregularities  which  they  caused  corrected  by  those 
gentler  ways,  we  should  seldom  have  to  do  with  more 
than  one  disorder  at  once,  which  would  be  easily  set 
right  without  any  stir  or  noise,  and  not  require  so  harsh 
a  discipline  as  beating.  Thus,  one  by  one,  as  they  ap- 
peared, they  might  all  be  weeded  out  without  any  signs 
or  memory  that  ever  they  had  been  there.  But  we  letting 
their  faults  (by  indulging  and  humouring  our  little  ones) 
grow  up  till  they  are  sturdy  and  numerous,  and  the 
deformity  of  them  makes  us  ashamed  and  uneasy,  we 
are  fain  to  come  to  the  plough  and  the  harrow ;  the  spade 
and  the  pick-ax  must  go  deep  to  come  at  the  roots,  and 
all  the  force,  skill,  and  diligence  we  can  use,  is  scarce 
enough  to  cleanse  the  vitiated  seed-plat  overgrown  with 
weeds,  and  restore  us  the  hopes  of  fruits  to  reward  our 
pains  in  its  season. 

85.  This  course,  if  observed,  will  spare  both  father  and 
child  the  trouble  of  repeated  injunctions,  and  multiplied 
rules  of  doing  and  forbearing.  For  I  am  of  opinion,  that 
of  those  actions  which  tend  to  vicious  habits  (which  are 
those  alone  that  a  father  should  interpose  his  authority 
and  commands  in),  none  should  be  forbidden  children 
till  they  are  found  guilty  of  them.  For  such  untimely 
prohibitions,  if  they  do  nothing  worse,  do  at  least  so 
much  towards  teaching  and  allowing  them,  that  they 
suppose  that  children  may  be  guilty  of  them,  who  would 
possibly  be  safer  in  the  ignorance  of  any  such  faults. 
And  the  best  remedy  to  stop  them,  is,  as  I  have  said,  to 
show  wonder  and  amazement  at  any  such  action  as  hath 
a  vicious  tendency,  when  it  is  first  taken  notice  of  in  a 
child.  For  example,  when  he  is  first  found  in  a  lie,  or  any 
ill-natured  trick,  the  first  remedy  should  be,  to  talk  to 
him  of  it  as  a  strange,  monstrous  matter,  that  it  could 
not  be  imagined  he  would  have  done ;  and  so  shame  him 
out  of  it. 

86.  It  will  be  (^tis  like)  objected,  That  whatever  I 
fancy  of  the  tractableness  of  children,  and  the  prevalency 


86,  87.  WHIPPING  69 

of  those  softer  ways  of  shame  and  commendation  ;  yet 
there  are  many,  who  will  never  apply  themselves  to  their 
books,  and  to  what  they  ought  to  learn,  unless  they  are 
scourged  to  it.  This  I  fear  is  nothing  but  the  language 
of  ordinary  schools  and  fashion,  which  have  never  suffered 
the  other  to  be  tried  as  it  should  be,  in  places  where  it 
could  be  taken  notice  of.  Why,  else,  does  the  learning 
of  Latin  and  Greek  need  the  rod,  when  French  and 
Italian  needs  it  not  ?  Children  learn  to  dance  and  fence 
without  whipping :  nay,  arithmetic,  drawing,  etc.,  they 
apply  themselves  well  enough  to,  without  beating  :  which 
would  make  one  suspect  that  there  is  something  strange, 
unnatural,  and  disagreeable  to  that  age,  in  the  things 
required  in  Grammar-Schools,  or  the  methods  used  there, 
that  children  cannot  be  brought  to,  without  the  severity 
of  the  lash,  and  hardly  with  that  too ;  or  else  that  it  is 
a  mistake,  that  those  tongues  could  not  be  taught  them 
without  beating. 

87.  But  let  us  suppose  some  so  negligent  or  idle,  that 
they  will  not  be  brought  to  learn  by  the  gentle  ways 
proposed ;  for  we  must  grant,  that  there  will  be  children 
found  of  all  tempers,  yet  it  does  not  thence  follow,  that 
the  rough  discipline  of  the  cudgel  is  to  be  used  at  all. 
Nor  can  any  one  be  concluded  unmanageable  by  the 
milder  methods  of  government,  till  they  have  been 
throughly  tried  upon  him;  and,  if  they  will  not  prevail 
with  him  to  use  his  endeavours,  and  do  what  is  in  his 
power  to  do,  we  make  no  excuse  for  the  obstinate  :  blows 
are  the  proper  remedies  for  those  :  but  blows  laid  on  in 
a  way  different  from  the  ordinary.  He  that  wilfully 
neglects  his  book,  and  stubbornly  refuses  any  thing  he 
can  do,  required  of  him  by  his  father  expressing  himself 
in  a  positive  serious  command,  should  not  be  corrected 
with  two  or  three  angry  lashes,  for  not  performing  his 
task,  and  the  same  punishment  repeated  again  and  again, 
upon  every  the  like  default.  But,  when  it  is  brought  to 
that  pass,  that  wilfulness  evidently  shows  itself,  and 
makes  blows  necessary,  I  think  the  chastisement  should 
be  a  little  more  sedate,  and  a  little  more  severe,  and  the 


70  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

whipping  (mingled  with  admonitions  between)  so  con- 
tinued, till  the  impressions  of  it  on  the  mind  were  found 
legible  in  the  face,  voice,  and  submission  of  the  child,  not 
so  sensible  of  the  smart  as  of  the  fault  he  has  been  guilty 
of,  and  melting  in  true  sorrow  under  it.  If  such  a  correc- 
tion as  this,  tried  some  few  times  at  fit  distances,  and 
carried  to  the  utmost  severity,  with  the  visible  displeasure 
of  the  father  all  the  while,  will  not  work  the  effect,  turn 
the  mind,  and  produce  a  future  compliance,  what  can  be 
hoped  from  blows,  and  to  what  purpose  should  they  be 
any  more  used  ?  Beating,  when  you  can  expect  no  good 
from  it,  will  look  more  like  the  fury  of  an  enraged 
enemy,  than  the  good-will  of  a  compassionate  friend;  and 
such  chastisement  carries  with  it  only  provocation  with- 
out any  prospect  of  amendment.  If  it  be  any  father's 
misfortune  to  have  a  son  thus  perverse  and  untractable, 
I  know  not  what  more  he  can  do  but  pray  for  him.  But 
I  imagine,  if  a  right  course  be  taken  with  children  from 
the  beginning,  very  few  will  be  found  to  be  such;  and 
when  there  are  any  such  instances,  they  are  not  to  be  the 
rule  for  the  education  of  those  who  are  better  natured, 
and  may  be  managed  with  better  usage. 

88.  Tutor. — If  a  tutor  can  be  got,  that,  thinking  him- 
self in  the  father's  place,  charged  with  his  care,  and 
relishing  these  things,  will  at  the  beginning  apply  him- 
self to  put  them  in  practice,  he  will  afterwards  find  his 
work  very  easy  :  and  you  will,  I  guess,  have  your  son  in 
a  little  time,  a  greater  proficient  in  both  learning  and 
breeding,  than  perhaps  you  imagine.  But  let  him  by  no 
means  beat  him,  at  any  time,  without  your  consent  and 
direction. 

89.  He  must  be  sure  also  to  shew  him  the  example  of 
the  things  he  would  have  the  child  practise,  and  care- 
fully preserve  him  from  the  influence  of  ill  precedents, 
especially  the  most  dangerous  of  all,  that  of  the  servants, 
from  Avhose  company  he  is  to  be  kept,  not  by  prohibi- 
tions, for  that  will  but  give  him  an  itch,  but  by  other 
ways  I  have  mentioned.^ 

1  See  sees.  59,  68,  69. 


90.  GOVERNOR  71 

90.  Governor, — In  all  the  whole  business  of  education, 
there  is  nothing  like  to  be  less  hearkened  to,  or  harder 
to  be  well  observed,  than  what  I  am  now  going  to  say ; 
and  that  is.  That  I  would,  from  their  first  beginning  to 
talk,  have  some  discreet,  sober,  nay  wise  person  about 
children,  whose  care  it  should  be  to  fashion  them  aright, 
and  keep  them  from  all  ill,  especially  the  infection  of  bad 
company.  I  think  this  province  requires  great  sobriety, 
temperance,  tenderness,  diligence,  and  discretion,  qualities 
hardly  to  be  found  united  in  persons  that  are  to  be  had 
for  ordinary  salaries,  nor  easily  to  be  found  any  where. 
As  to  the  charge  of  it,  I  think  it  will  be  the  money  best 
laid  out  that  can  be  about  our  children ;  and  therefore, 
though  it  may  be  expensive  more  than  is  ordinary,  yet  it 
cannot  be  thought  dear.  He  that  at  any  rate  procures 
his  child  a  good  mind,  well-principled,  tempered  to  virtue 
and  usefulness,  and  adorned  with  civility  and  good 
breeding,  makes  a  better  purchase  for  him,  than  if  he 
laid  out  the  money  for  an  addition  of  more  earth  to  his 
former  acres.  Spare  it  in  toys  and  play-games,  in  silk 
and  ribbons,  laces  and  other  useless  expenses,  as  much 
as  you  please ;  but  be  not  sparing  in  so  necessary  a  part 
as  this.  ^Tis  not  good  husbandry  to  make  his  fortune 
rich,  and  his  mind  poor.  I  have  often,  with  gi-eat 
admiration,  seen  people  lavish  it  profusely  in  tricking  up 
their  children  in  fine  clothes,  lodging  and  feeding  them 
sumptuously,  allowing  them  more  than  enough  of  useless 
servants,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  starve  their  minds, 
and  not  take  suflficient  care  to  cover  that,  which  is  the 
most  shameful  nakedness,  viz.,  their  natural  wrong 
inclinations  and  ignorance.  This  I  can  look  on  as  no 
other  than  a  sacrificing  to  their  own  vanity ;  it  showing 
more  their  pride,  than  true  care  of  the  good  of  their 
children.  Whatsoever  you  employ  to  the  advantage  of 
your  son's  mind,  will  show  your  true  kindness,  though  it 
be  to  the  lessening  of  his  estate.  A  wise  and  good  man 
can  hardly  want  either  the  opinion  or  reality  of  being- 
great  and  happy.  But  he  that  is  foolish  or  vicious,  can 
be  neither  great  nor  happy,  what  estate  soever  you  leave 


72  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

hiin  :  and  1  ask  you,  whether  there  be  not  men  in  the 
worhl,  whom  you  had  rather  have  your  son  be,  with  £500 
per  annum,  than  some  other  you  know,  with  £'5,000  ? 

91.  The  consideration  of  charge  ought  not,  therefore, 
to  deter  those  who  are  able  :  the  great  difficulty  will  be, 
where  to  find  a  proper  person.  For  those  of  small  age, 
parts,  and  virtue,  are  unfit  for  this  employment :  and 
those  that  have  greater,  will  hardly  be  got  to  undertake 
such  a  charge.  You  must  therefore  look  out  early,  and 
enquire  everywhere;  for  the  world  has  people  of  all 
sorts :  and  1  remember,  Montaigne  says  in  one  of  his 
essays,  that  the  learned  Castalio  was  fain  to  make 
trenchers  at  Basle,  to  keep  himself  from  starving,  when 
his  father  would  have  given  any  money  for  such  a  tutor 
for  his  son,  and  Castalio  have  willingly  embraced  such 
an  employment  upon  very  reasonable  terms :  but  this 
was  for  want  of  intelligence.^ 

92.  If  you  find  it  difficult  to  meet  withjjuch  a  tutor  as 
;yve  desire,  you  are  not  to  wonder.  ^T  onlyi^ansay.  iSpare 
no_care  nor  cost  to  get  ."^ucli  an  one.  -All  things  are  to  be 
had  that  way  :  and  I  dare  assure  you,  that,  if  you  can 
get  a  good  one,  you  will  never  repent  the  charge ;  but 
will  always  have  the  satisfaction  to  think  it  the  money 
of  all  other  the  best  laid  out.  But  be  sure  take  no  body 
upon  friends,  or  charitable,  no,  nor  bare  great  com- 
mendations. Nor  will  the  reputation  of  a  sober  man, 
with  learning  enough  (which  is  all  usually  required  in  a 
tutor),  serve  the  turn.  In  this  choice  be  as  curious,  as 
you  would  in  that  of  a  wife  for  him  :  for  you  must  not 
think  of  trial,  or  changing  afterwards ;  that  will  cause 
great  inconvenience  to  you,  and  greater  to  your  son. 
When  I  consider  the  scruples  and  cautions  I  here  lay  in 
your  way,  methinks  it  looks  as  if  I  advised  you  to  some 

*  Essais,  i.,  chap,  xxxiv.,  "D'un  defaut  de  nos  polices."  But 
Locke  has  constructed  an  anecdote  out  of  a  bare  reference  to  the 
death  of  the  French  humanist  Sebastien  CastaUon  (1515-1563),  and 
the  elder  Montaigne's  suggestion  of  a  Public  Inquiry  Office,  which 
would  keep  buyers  and  sellers  reciprocally  informed.  On  CastaUon, 
or  Castellion,  see  Foster  Watson,  TJie  English  Grammar  Schools, 
p.  338 #. 


92-94.  GOVEKNOR  73 

thing,  which  I  would  have  offered  at,  but  in  effect  not 
done.  But  he  that  shall  consider,  how  much  the  business 
of  a  tutor,  rightly  employed,  lies  out  of  the  road,  and  how 
remote  it  is  from  the  thoughts  of  many,  even  of  those 
who  propose  to  themselves  this  employment,  will  perhaps 
be  of  my  mind,  that  one  fit  to  educate  and  form  the 
mind  of  a  young  gentleman,  is  not  every  where  to  be 
found ;  and  that  more  than  ordinary  care  is  to  be  taken 
in  the  choice  of  him,  or  else  you  may  fail  of  your  end. 

93.  The  tutor  must  be  well-bred  and  of  a  graceful  carriage ; 
these  qualitieshe  should  seek  to  form  in  theyoung  geyitleman} 

94.  The  tutor  mu^t  know  the  world  and  must  exhibit  the 
world  to  his  pupil  as  it  really  is. 

[Thus,  by  safe  and  insensible  degrees,  he  will  pass  from 
a  boy  to  a  man ;  which  is  the  most  hazardous  step  in  all 
the  whole  course  of  life.  This  therefore  should  be  care- 
fully watched,  and  a  young  man  with  great  diligence 
handed  over  it ;  and  not,  as  now  usually  is  done,  be  taken 
from  a  governor's  conduct,  and  all  at  once  thrown  into 
the  world  under  his  own,  not  without  manifest  dangers 
of  immediate  spoiling;  there  being  nothing  more  frequent, 
than  instances  of  the  great  looseness,  extravagancy  and 
debauchery,  which  young  men  have  run  into,  as  soon  as 
they  have  been  let  loose  from  a  severe  and  strict  educa- 
tion :  which,  I  think,  may  be  chiefly  imputed  to  their 
wrong  way  of  breeding,  especially  in  this  part ;  for  having 
been  bred  up  in  a  great  ignorance  of  what  the  world  truly 
is,  and  finding  it  quite  another  thing,  when  they  come 
into  it,  than  what  they  were  taught  it  should  be,  and  so 
imagined  it  was,  are  easily  persuaded,  by  other  kind  of 
tutors,  which  they  are  sure  to  meet  with,  that  the  dis- 
cipline they  were  kept  under,  and  the  lectures  that  were 
read  to  them,  were  but  the  formalities  of  education,  and 
the  restraints  of  childhood;  that  the  freedom  belonging 
to  men,  is  to  take  their  swing  in  a  full  enjoyment  of  what 
was  before  forbidden  them.  .  ,  .  The  only  fence  against 
the  world  is  a  thorough  knowledge  of  it.  .  .  . 

^  Italic  type  is  used  to  indicate  a  summary  of  a  passage  inserted 
in  editions  later  than  tbd  first. 


74  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

This,  I  confess,  containing  one  great  part  of  wisdom, 
is  not  the  product  of  some  superficial  thoughts,  or  nmch 
reading ;  but  the  effect  of  experience  and  observation  in 
a  7nan,  who  has  lived  in  the  world  with  his  eyes  open, 
and  conversed  with  men  of  all  sorts.     And  therefore  1 

1  think  it  of  most  value  to  be  instilled  into  a  young  man, 
upon  all  occasions  which  offer  themselves,  that,  when  he 
conies  to  launch  into  the  deep  himself,  he  may  not  be  like 
one  at  sea  without  a  line,  compass,  or  sea-chart ;  but  may 
have  some  notice  beforehand  of  the  rocks  and  shoals,  the 
currents  and  quicksands,  and  know  a  little  how  to  steer, 
that  he  sink  not,  before  he  get  experience.  He  that 
thinks  not  this  of  more  moment  to  his  son,  and  for  which 
he  more  needs  a  governor,  than  the  languages  and  learned 
sciences,  forgets  of  how  much  more  use  it  is  to  judge 
right  of  men,  and  manage  his  affairs  wisely  with  them, 
than  to  speak  Greek  and  Latin,  or  argue  in  mood  and 
figure;^  or  to  have  his  head  filled  with  the  abstruse 
speculations  of  natural  philosophy,  and  metaphysics; 
nay,  tlian  to  be  well  versed  in  Greek  and  Roman  writers, 
though  that  be  much  better  for  a  gentleman,  tlian  to  be 
a  good  Peripatetic  or  Cartesian :  ^  because  those  ancient 
authors  observed  and  painted  mankind  well,  and  give 
the  best  light  into  that  kind  of  knowledge.  He  that 
goes  into  the  eastern  parts  of  Asia,  will  find  able  and 
acceptable  men,  without  any  of  these :  But  without 
virtue,  knowledge  of  the  world,  and  civility,  an  accom- 
plished and  valuable  man  can  be  found  nowhere. 

A  great  part  of  the  learning  now  in  fashion  in  the 
schools  of  Europe,  and  that  goes  ordinarily  into  the 
round  of  education,  a  gentleman  may,  in  a  good  measure, 
be  unfurnished  with,  without  any  great  disparagement 
to  himself,  or  prejudice  to  his,  affairs.^  But  prudence 
and  good  breeding  are,  in  all  the  stations  and  occurrences 
of  life,  necessary ;  and  most  young  men  suffer  in  the  want 

^  I.e.,  to  be  expert  in  formal  logic,  "  hog-sheaxing,"  as  Locke  liked 
to  term  it. 

2  I.e.,  an  adherent  of  Aristotle  or  of  Descartes,  of  the  ancient  or 
of  the  modern  philosophy.  ^  See  Introduction,  p.  3. 


94.  GOVERNOR  76 

of  them;  and  come  rawer,  and  more  awkward,  into  the 
world,  than  they  should,  for  this  very  reason ;  because 
these  qualities,  which  are,  of  all  other,  the  most  necessary 
to  be  taught,  and  stand  most  in  need  of  the  assistance 
and  help  of  a  teacher,  are  generally  neglected,  and 
thought  but  a  slight,  or  no  part  of  a  tutor's  business. 
Latin  and  learning  make  all  the  noise :  and  the  main 
stress  is  laid  upon  his  proficiency  in  things,  a  great  part 
whereof  belongs  not  to  a  gentleman's  calling;  which  is, 
to  have  the  knowledge  of  a  man  of  business,  a  carriage^ 
suitable  to  his  rank,  and  to  be  eminent  and  useful  in  his 
country,  according  to  his  station.  Whenever  either  spare 
hours  from  that,  or  an  inclination  to  perfect  himself  in 
some  parts  of  knowledge,  which  his  tutor  did  but  just 
enter  him  in,  set  him  upon  any  study;  the  first  rudi- 
ments of  it,  which  he  learned  before,  will  open  the  way 
enough  for  his  own  industry  to  carry  him  as  far  as  his 
fancy  will  prompt,  or  his  parts  enable  him  to  go  :  or,  if 
he  thinks  it  may  save  bis  time  and  pains,  to  be  helped 
over  some  difficulties  by  the  hand  of  a  master,  he  may 
then  take  a  man  that  is  perfectly  well  skilled  in  it,  or 
choose  such  an  one  as  he  thinks  fittest  for  his  purpose. 
But  to  initiate  his  pupil  in  any  part  of  learning,  as  far 
as  is  necessary  for  a  young  man  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  his  studies,  an  ordinary  skill  in  the  governor  is  enough. 
Nor  is  it  requisite  that  he  should  be  a  thorough  scholar, 
or  possess  in  perfection  all  those  sciences,  which  it  is 
convenient  a  young  gentleman  should  have  a  taste  of, 
in  some  general  view,  or  short  system.  A  gentleman, 
that  would  penetrate  deeper,  must  do  it  by  his  own 
genius  and  industry  afterwards;  for  nobody  ever  went 
far_in__knowled_g;e,  or  became  eminent  in  any  of  the 
sciences,  by^_the^ijcipline  and  constraint  of  a  magter.^ 
r  The  great  work  of  a  governor  is  to  fashion  the  carriage,  ' 
and  form  the  mind ;  to  settle  in  his  pupil  good  habits, 
and  the  principles  of  virtue  and  wisdom ;  to  give  him, 
by  little  and  little,  a  view  of  mankind ;  and  work  him  / 

*  Deportment,  bearing. 

2  This  is  the  keynote  of  the  "Conduct  of  the  Understanding." 


76  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

Iinto  a  love  and  imitation  of  what  is  excellent  and  praise- 1 
worthy ;  and  in  the  prosecution  of  it,  to  give  him  vigour, ' 
activity,  and  industry.  \  The  studies  which  he  sets  him 
upon,  are  but,  as  it  were,  the  exercises  of  his  faculties, 
and  employment  of  his  time,  to  keep  him  from  sauntering 
and  idleness,  to  teach  him  application,  and  accustom  him 
to  take  pains,  and  to  give  him  some  little  taste  of  what 
his  own  industry  must  perfect.  For  who  expects,  that 
under  a  tutor  a  young  gentleman  should  be  an  accom- 
plished critic,  orator,  or  logician ;  go  to  the  bottom  of 
metaphysics,  natural  philosophy,  or  mathematics ;  or  be 
a  master  in  history  or  chronology  ?  Though  something 
of  each  of  these  is  to  be  taught  him :  but  it  is  only  to 
open  the  door,  that  he  may  look  in,  and,  as  it  were,  begin 
an  acquaintance,  but  not  to  dwell  there  :  and  a  governor 
would  be  much  blamed,  that  should  keep  his  pupil  too 
long,  and  lead  him  too  far  in  most  of  them.  But  of  goojj 
breeding,  knowledge  of  the^AjmrliL_zirtue.  industry,  and 
a  love  of  reputation,  he  cannot  have  too  much :  and  if 
lae  have  these,  he  will  not  long  want  what  he  needs  or 
desires  of  the  other. 

And  since  it  cannot  be  hoped,  he  should  have  time 
and  strength  to  learn  all  things,  most  pains  should  be 
taken  about  that  which  is  most  necessary ;  and  that 
principally  looked  after,  which  will  be  of  most  and 
frequentest  use  to  him  in  the  world. 

Seneca  complains  of  the  contrary  practice  in  his  time ; 
and  yet  the  Burgersdiciuses  and  the  Scheiblers^  did  not 
swarm  in  those  days,  as  they  do  now  in  these.  What 
would  he  have  thought,  if  he  had  lived  now,  when  the 

'  Franco  Burgersdijck  (1590  1635)  was  the  author  of  a  long 
celebrated  and  widely-read  textbook  of  logic  ([nstitutiones  Logi- 
carum  libri  duo,  Leyden,  1626)  which  was  i  ead  by  undergraduates 
in  their  fitst  year  at  Cambridge  so  late  as  1710.  Waterland  {Advice 
to  a  Student,  1706)  recommends  it  as  a  first  book  on  its  subject. 
Christoph  Scheibler  was  the  author  of  a  "  philosophic  com- 
pendium "  which,  in  less  than  200  small  pages  of  Latin,  set  forth 
the  principles  of  logic,  metaphysics,  physics,  geometry,  astronomy, 
optics,  ethics,  pohtics,  and  economics  The  sixth  edition  of 
Scheibler's  Philosophia  Compendiosa  is  dated  1639  (Oxford). 


94.  GOVERNOR  77 

tutors  think  it  their  great  business  to  fill  the  studies  and 
heads  of  their  pupils  with  such  authors  as  these  ?  He 
would  have  had  much  more  reason  to  say,  as  he  does, 
"  Non  vitae,  sed  scholee  discimus,"  we  learn  not  to  live, 
but  to  dispute,  and  our  education  fits  us  rather  for  the 
university  than  the  world.  But  it  is  no  wonder,  if  those 
who  make  the  fashion  suit  it  to  what  they  have,  and  not 
to  what  their  pupils  want.  The  fashion  being  once 
established,  who  can  think  it  strange,  that  in  this,  as 
well  as  in  all  other  things,  it  should  prevail ;  and  that 
the  greatest  part  of  those,  who  find  their  account  in  an 
easy  submission  to  it,  should  be  ready  to  cry  out  heresy, 
when  anyone  departs  from  it  ?  It  is  nevertheless 
matter  of  astonishment,  that  men  of  quality  and  parts 
should  suffer  themselves  to  be  so  far  misled  by  custom 
and  implicit  faith.  Reason,  if  consulted  with,  would 
advise  that  their  children's  time  should  be  spent  in 
acquiring  what  might  be  useful  to  them,  when  they  come 
to  be  men,  rather  than  to  have  their  heads  stuffed  with 
a  deal  of  trash,  a  great  part  whereof  they  usually  never 
do  (it  is  certain  they  never  need  to)  think  on  again  as 
long  as  they  live ;  and  so  much  of  it,  as  does  stick  by 
them,  they  are  only  the  worse  for.  This  is  so  well  known 
that  I  appeal  to  parents  themselves,  who  have  been  at 
cost  to  have  their  young  heirs  taught  it,  whether  it  be 
not  ridiculous  for  their  sons  to  have  any  tincture  of  that 
sort,  of  learning,  when  they  come  abroad  into  the  world  : 
whether  any  appearance  of  it  would  not  lessen  and  dis- 
grace them  in  company.  And  that  certainly  must  be  an 
admirable  acquisition,  and  deserves  well  to  make  a  part 
in  education,  which  men  are  ashamed  of,  where  they  are 
most  concerned  to  show  their  parts  and  breeding. 

There  is  yet  another  reason  why  politeness  of  manners 
and  knowledge  of  the  world  should  principally  be  looked 
after  in  a  tutor :  and  that  is,  because  a  man  of  parts  and 
years  may  enter  a  lad  far  enough  in  any  of  those  sciences 
which  he  has  no  deep  insight  into  himself.  Books  in 
these  will  be  able  to  furnish  him,  and  give  him  light  and 
precedency  enough,  to  go  before  a  young  follower;  but 


78  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

he  will  never  be  £^ble  to  set  another  right  in  the  know- 
ledge of  the  world,  and  above  all,  in  breeding,  who  is  a 
novice  in  them  himself. 

This  is  a  knowledge  he  must  have  about  him,  worn 
into  him  by  use  and  conversation,  and  a  long  forming 
himself  by  what  he  has  observed  to  be  practised  and 
allowed  in  the  best  company.  This,  if  he  has  it  not  of 
his  own,  is  no  where  to  be  borrowed,  for  the  use  of  his 
pupil;  or  if  he  could  find  pertinent  treatises  of  it  in 
books,  that  would  reach  all  the  particulars  of  an  English 
gentleman's  behaviour,  his  own  ill-fashioned  example,  if 
he  be  not  well-bred  himself,  would  spoil  all  his  lectures ; 
it  being  impossible,  that  any  one  should  come  forth  well- 
fashioned  out  of  unpolished,  ill-bred  company. 

I  say  this,  not  that  I  think  such  a  tutor  is  every  day 
to  be  met  with,  or  to  be  had  at  the  ordinary  rates  :  but 
that  those,  who  are  able,  may  not  be  sparing  of  inquiry 
or  cost,  in  what  is  of  so  great  moment ;  and  that  other 
parents,  whose  estates  will  not  reach  to  greater  salaries, 
may  yet  remember  what  they  should  principally  have  an 
eye  to  in  the  choice  of  one  to  whom  they  would  commit 
the  education  of  their  children ;  and  what  part  they 
should  chiefly  look  after  themselves,  whilst  they  are 
under  their  care,  and  as  often  as  they  come  within  their 
observation  ;  and  not  think  that  all  lies  in  Latin  and 
French,  or  some  dry  systems  of  logic  and  philosophy.] 

95,^  Familiarity. — But  to  return  to  our  method  again. 
Though  I  have  mentioned  the  severity  of  the  father's 
brow,  and  the  awe  settled  thereby  in  the  mind  of 
children  when  young,  as  one  main  foundation  whereby 
their  education  is  to  be  managed ;  yet  I  am  far  from 
being  of  an  opinion  that  it  should  be  continued  all  along 
to  them,  whilst  they  are  under  the  discipline  and 
government  of  pupilage.  I  think  it  should  be  relaxed, 
as  fast  as  their  age,  discretion,  and  good  behaviour  could 
allow  it ;  even  to  that  degree,  that  a  father  will  do  well, 
as  his  son  grows  up  and  is  capable  of  it,  to  talk 
familiarly  with  him;  nay,  ask  his  advice  and  consult 
^  iSec.  91  in  first  edition. 


95,  96.  FAMILIAKITY  79 

with  him  about  those  things  wherein  he  has  any  know- 
ledge or  understanding.  By  this  the  father  will  gain 
two  things,  both  of  great  moment.  The  one  is,  that  it 
will  put  serious  considerations  into  his  son's  thoughts, 
better  than  any  rules  or  advices  he  can  give  him.  The 
sooner  you  treat  him  as  a  man,  the  sooner  he  will  begin 
to  be  one  :  and  if  you  admit  him  into  serious  discourses 
sometimes  with  you,  you  will  insensibl}'  raise  his  mind 
a.bove  the  usual  amusements  of  youth,  and  those  trifling 
occupations  which  it  is  commonly  wasted  in.  For  it  is 
easy  to  observe,  that  many  young  men  continue  longer 
in  the  thought  and  conversation  of  school-boys,  than 
otherwise  they  would,  because  their  parents  keep  them 
at  that  distance,  and  in  that  low  rank,  by  all  their 
carriage  to  them, 

96.  Another  thing  of  greater  consequence,  which  you 
will  obtain  by  such  a  way  of  treating  him,  will  be  his 
friendship.  Many  fathers,  though  they  proportion  to 
their  sons  liberal  alloAvances,  according  to  their  age  and 
condition;  yet  they  keep  them  as  much  unacquainted 
with  their  estates  and  all  other  concernments  as  if  they 
were  strangers,  This  if  it  looks  not  like  jealousy,  yet  it 
wants  those  marks  of  kindness  and  intimacy,  which  a 
father  should  show  to  his  son ;  and,  no  doubt,  often 
hinders  or  abates  that  cheerfulness  and  satisfaction, 
wherewith  a  son  should  address  himself  to,  and  rely  upon, 
his  father.  And  I  cannot  but  often  wonder  to  see 
fathers,  who  love  their  sons  very  well,  yet  so  order  the 
matter,  by  a  constant  stiffness,  and  a  mien  of  authority 
and  distance  to  them  all  their  lives,  as  if  they  were  never 
to  enjoy  or  have  any  comfort  from  those  they  love  best 
in  the  world,  till  they  had  lost  them  by  being  removed 
into  another.  Nothing  cements  and  establishes  friend- 
ship and  good- will,  so  much  as  confident  communication 
of  concernments  and  affairs.  Other  kindnesses  without 
this,  leave  still  some  doubts ;  but  when  your  son  sees  you 
open  your  mind  to  him,  that  you  interest  him  in  your 
affairs,  as  things  you  are  willing  should  in  their  turn 
come  into  his  hands,  he  will  be  concerned  for  them  as  for 


80  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

his  own ;  wait  his  season  with  patience,  and  love  you  in 
the  meantime,  who  keep  him  not  at  the  distance  of  a 
stranger.  This  will  also  make  him  see,  that  the  enjoy- 
ment you  have  is  not  without  care ;  which  the  more  he  is 
sensible  of,  the  less  will  he  envy  you  the  possession,  and 
the  more  think  himself  happy  under  the  management 
of  so  favourable  a  friend,  and  so  careful  a  father.  There 
is  scarce  any  young  man  of  so  little  thought,  or  so  void 
of  sense,  that  would  not  be  glad  of  a  sure  friend,  that  he 
might  have  recourse  to,  and  freely  consult  on  occasion. 
The  reservedness  and  distance  that  fathers  keep,  often 
deprives  their  sons  of  that  refuge,  which  would  be  of 
more  advantage  to  them  than  an  hundred  rebukes  and 
chidings.  Would  your  son  engage  in  some  frolic,  or  take 
a  vagary,!  were  it  not  much  better  he  should  do  it  with, 
than  without  your  knowledge  ?  For  since  allowances 
for  such  things  must  be  made  to  young  men,  the  more 
you  know  of  his  intrigues  and  designs,  the  better  will 
you  be  able  to  prevent  great  mischiefs ;  and,  by  letting 
him  see  what  is  like  to  follow,  take  the  right  way  of 
prevailing  with  him  to  avoid  less  inconveniences.^  Would 
you  have  him  open  his  heart  to  you,  and  ask  your  advice  ? 
You  must  begin  to  do  so  with  him  first,  and  by  your 
carriage  beget  that  confidence. 

97.  But  whatever  he  consults  you  about,  unless  it  lead 
to  some  fatal  and  irremediable  mischief,  be  sure  you 
advise  only  as  a  friend  of  more  experience;  but  with 
your  advice  mingle  nothing  of  command  or  authority,  no 
more  than  you  would  to  your  equal,  or  a  stranger.  That 
would  be  to  drive  him  for  ever  from  any  farther  demand- 
ing, or  recei^'ing  advantage  from  your  counsel.  You 
must  consider,  that  he  is  a  young  man,  and  has  pleasures 
and  fancies,  which  you  are  past.  You  must  not  expect 
his  inclinations  should  be  just  as  yours,  nor  that  at  twenty 

^  A  departure  from  the  ordinary  routine,  "  a  day  otf,"  an  "  out- 
leap  "  (sec.  97).  This  section  should  be  compared  with  Montaigne's 
Essay  already  mentioned,  ii.,  chap,  viii.,  "  On  the  Affection  of 
Fathers  for  their  Children  " 

2  I.e.,  inconveniences  which  are  less  than  "  great  mischiefs." 


97,  98.  FAMILIAKITY— 99.  REVERENCE         81 

he  should  have  the  same  thoughts  you  have  at  tifty.  All 
that  you  can  wish  is,  that  since  youth  must  have  some 
liberty,  some  out-leaps,  they  might  be  with  the  ingenuity  ^ 
of  a  son,  and  under  the  eye  of  a  father,  and  then  no  very 
great  harm  can  come  of  it.  The  way  to  obtain  this,  as  I 
said  before,  is  (according  as  you  find  him  capable)  to  talk 
with  him  about  your  affairs,  propose  matters  to  him 
familiarly,  and  ask  his  advice ;  and  when  he  ever  lights 
on  the  right,  follow  it  as  his,  and  if  it  succeeds  well,  let/ 
him  have  the  commendation.  This  will  not  at  all  lessen 
your  authority,  but  increase  his  love  and  esteem  of  you. 
Whilst  you  keep  your  estate,  the  staff  will  still  be  in 
your  own  hands ;  and  your  authority  the  surer,  the  more 
it  is  strengthened  with  confidence  and  kindness.  For 
you  have  not  that  power  you  ought  to  have  over  him,  till 
he  comes  to  be  more  afraid  of  offending  so  good  a  friend, 
than  of  losing  some  part  of  his  future  expectation. 

98.  Familiar  discourse  is  a  mode  of  discipline  whicli 
sJiould  also  be  used  by  the  tutor. 

99.  Reverence. — When,  by  making  your  son  sensible 
that  he  depends  on  you,  and  is  in  your  power,  you  have 
established  your  authority ;  and  by  being  inflexibly 
severe  in  your  carriage  to  him,  when  obstinately  persist- 
ing in  any  ill-natured  trick  which  you  have  forbidden, 
especially  lying,  you  have  imprinted  on  his  mind  that 
awe  which  is  necessary ;  and  on  the  other  side,  when  (by 
permitting  him  the  full  liberty  due  to  his  age,  and  laying 
no  restraint  in  your  presence  to  those  childish  actions, 
and  gaiety  of  carriage,  which,  whilst  he  is  very  young,  is 
as  necessary  to  him  as  meat  or  sleep)  you  have  reconciled 
him  to  your  company,  and  made  him  sensible  of  your 
care  and  love  of  him  by  indulgence  and  tenderness, 
especially  caressing  him  on  all  occasions  wherein  he  does 
any  thing  well,  and  being  kind  to  him  after  a  thousand 
fashions,  suitable  to  his  age,  which  nature  teaches  parents 
better  than  I  can  :  when,  1  say,  by  these  ways  of  tender- 
ness and  affection,  which  parents  never  want  for  their 
children,  you  have  also  planted  in  him  a  particular  affec- 

'  I.e.,  ingenuousness. 

6 


82  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

tion  for  you,  he  is  then  in  the  state  you  could  desire,  and 
you  have  formed  in  his  mind  that  true  reverence,  which  is 
always  afterwards  carefully  to  be  increased  and  main- 
tained in  both  })arts  of  it,  love  and  fear,  as  the  great 
princi{)les  whereby  you  will  always  have  hold  upon  him 
to  turn  his  mind  to  the  ways  of  virtue  and  honour. 

100.  Temper. — When  this  foundation  is  once  well  laid, 
and  you  find  this  reverence  begin  to  work  in  him,  the 
next  thing  to  be  done,  is  carefully  to  consider  his  temper,^ 
and  the  particular  constitution  of  his  mind.  Stubborn- 
ness, lying,  and  ill-natured  actions,  are  not  (as  has  been 
said)  to  be  permitted  in  him  from  the  beginning,  what- 
ever his  temper  be  :  those  seeds  of  vices  are  not  to  be 
suffered  to  take  any  root,  but  must  be  suppressed  in 
their  appearance ;  and  your  authority  is  to  be  established 
from  the  very  dawning  of  any  knowledge  in  him,  that  it 
may  operate  as  a  natural  principle,  whereof  he  never 
perceived  the  beginning,  never  knew  what  it  was,  or 
could  be  otherwise.  By  this,  if  the  reverence  he  owes 
you  be  established  early,  it  will  always  be  sacred  to  him, 
and  it  will  be  as  hard  for  him  to  resist  it  as  the  principles 
of  his  nature. 

101 .  Having  thus  very  early  established  your  authority, 
and,  by  the  gentler  applications  of  it,  shamed  him  out  of 
what  leads  towards  any  immoral  habit ;  as  soon  as  you 
have  observed  it  in  him  (for  I  would  by  no  means  have 
chiding  used,  much  less  blows,  till  obstinacy  and  in- 
corrigibleness  make  it  absolutely  necessary),  it  will  be 
fit  to  consider  which  way  the  natural  make  of  his  mind 
inclines  him.  Some  men,  by  the  unalterable  frame  of 
their  constitutions,  are  stout,  others  timorous ;  some  con- 
fident, others  modest,  tractable  or  obstinate,  curious  or 
careless.  There  are  not  more  differences  in  men's  faces, 
and  the  outward  lineaments  of  their  bodies,  than  there 
are  in  the  makes  and  tempers  of  their  minds^ ;  only  there 
is  this  difference,  that  the  distinguishing  characters  of 
the  face,  and  the  lineaments  of  the  body,  grow  more 

^  Temperament. 

^  Cf.  sees.  139,  176,  216,  and  see  Conduct,  sec.  2. 


102.  TEMPER— 103,   104.  DOMINION  83 

plain  and  visible  with  time  and  age,  but  the  peculiar 
physiognomy  of  the  mind  is  most  discernible  in  children, 
before  art  and  cunning  have  taught  them  to  hide  their 
deformities,  and  conceal  their  ill  inclinations  under  a 
dissembled  outside. 

102.^  Begin  therefore  betimes  nicely  to  observe  your 
son's  temper^  and  that,  when  he  is  under  least  restraint. 
See  what  are  his  predominant  passions  and  prevailing 
inclinations ;  whether  he  be  fierce  or  mild,  bold  or  bash- 
ful, compassionate  or  cruel,  open  or  reserved,  etc.  For 
as  these  are  different  in  him,  so  are  your  methods  to  be 
different,  and  your  authority  must  hence  take  measures 
to  apply  it  self  [in]  different  ways  to  him.  These  native 
propensities,^  these  prevalences  of  constitution,  are  not  to 
be  cured  by  rules,  or  a  direct  contest,  especially  those  of 
them  that  are  the  humbler  and  meaner  sort,  which  pro- 
ceed from  fear  and  lowness  of  spirit ;  though  with  art 
they  may  be  much  mended,  and  turned  to  good  purposes. 
But  of  this  be  sure,  after  all  is  done,  the  bias  will  always 
hang  on  that  side  that  nature  first  placed  it :  and,  if 
you  carefully  observe  the  characters  of  his  mind  noAv  in 
the  first  scenes  of  his  life,  you  will  ever  after  be  able  to 
judge  which  way  his  thoughts  lean,  and  what  he  aims  at 
even  hereafter,  when,  as  he  grows  up,  the  plot  thickens, 
and  he  puts  on  several  shapes  to  act  it. 

103.  Dominicm. — I  told  you  before,  that  children  love 
liberty,^  and  therefore  they  should  be  brought  to  do  the 
things  that  are  fit  for  them,  without  feeling  any  restraint 
laid  upon  them.  1  now  tell  you,  they  love  some- 
thing more  ;  and  that  is  dominion  :  and  this  is  the  first 
original  of  most  vicious  habits,  that  are  ordinary  and 
)iatural.  This  love  of  power  and  dominion  shews  itself 
very  early,  and  that  in  these  two  things. 

104,  We  see  children  (as  soon  almost  as  they  are  born, 
I  am  sure  long  before  they  can  speak)  cry,  grow  peevish, 
sullen,  and  out  of  humour,  for  nothing  but  to  have  their 
wills.     They  would  have  their  desires  submitted  to  by 

^  Sec,  97  in  first  edition.  ^  "Propensions  "  in  text. 

3  Sees.  73-76,  103,  128-9,  148-154,  167,  202. 


84  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

otliers ;  they  contend  for  a  ready  compliance  from  all 
about  them,  especially  from  those  that  stand  near  or 
beneath  them  in  age  or  degree,  as  soon  as  they  come 
to  consider  others  with  those  distinctions. 

105,^  Another  thing,  wherein  they  show  their  love  of 
dominion,  is  their  desire  to  have  things  to  be  theirs; 
they  would  have  propriety  and  possession,  pleasing  them- 
selves with  the  power  [which]  that  seems  to  give,  and 
the  right  they  thereby  have  to  dispose  of  them  as  they 
please.  He  that  has  not  observed  these  two  humours 
working  very  betimes  in  children,  has  taken  little  notice 
of  their  actions  :  and  he  that  thinks  that  these  two  roots 
of  almost  all  the  injustice  and  contention  that  so  disturb 
human  life,  are  not  early  to  be  weeded  out,  and  contrary 
habits  introduced,  neglects  the  proper  season  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  a  good  and  worthy  man.  To  do  this, 
1  imagine,  these  following  things  may  somewhat  conduce. 

106.  1.  Craviny. — That  a  child  should  never  be  suffered 
to  have  what  he  craves,  or  so  much  as  speaks  for,  much 
less  if  he  cries  for  it.  What  then,  would  you  not  have 
them  declare  their  wants  ?  Yes,  that  is  very  fit ;  and 
'tis  as  fit  that  with  all  tenderness  they  should  be 
hearkened  to,  and  supplied,  at  least  whilst  they  are  very 
little.  But  'tis  one  thing  to  say,  I  am  hungry ;  another 
to  say,  1  would  have  roast-meat.  Having  declared  their 
wants,  their  natural  wants,  the  pain  they  feel  from 
hunger,  thirst,  cold,  or  any  other  necessity  of  nature,  'tis 
the  duty  of  their  parents,  and  those  about  them,  to  relieve 
them :  but  children  must  leave  it  to  the  choice  and 
ordering  of  their  parents  what  they  think  properest  for 
them,  and  how  nmch ;  and  must  not  be  permitted  to 
choose  for  themselves,  and  say,  I  would  have  wine,  or 
white-bread ;  the  very  naming  of  it  should  make  them 
lose  it. 

107.^  This  is  for  natural  wants  which  must  be  relieved ; 

but  for  all  wants  of  fancy  and  affectation,  they  should 

never,  if  once   declared,  be  hearkened  to,  or  complied 

with.     By  this    means    they  will    be    brought  to  get  a 

*  Sec.  100  in  first  edition.  ^  ggg   io2  in  first  edition. 


107.  CRAVING— 108.  CURIOSITY  85 

mastery  over  their  inclinations,  and  learn  the  art  of 
stifling  their  desires  as  soon  as  they  rise  up  in  them,  and 
before  they  take  vent,  when  they  are  easiest  to  be  sub- 
dued, which  will  be  of  great  use  to  them  in  the  future 
course  of  their  lives.  By  this  I  do  not  mean  that  thej^ 
should  not  have  the  things  that  one  perceives  would 
delight  them ;  'twould  be  inhumanity  and  not  prudence 
to  treat  them  so.  But  they  should  not  have  the  liberty 
to  carve  or  crave  anything  to  themselves ;  they  should 
be  exercised  in  keeping  their  desires  under,  till  they  have 
got  the  habit  of  it,  and  it  be  grown  easy ;  they  should 
accustom  themselves  to  be  content  in  the  want  of  what 
they  wished  for ;  and  the  more  they  practised  modesty 
and  temperance  in  this,  the  more  should  those  about 
them  study  to  reward  them  with  what  is  suited  and 
acceptable  to  them;  which  should  be  bestowed  on  them, 
as  if  it  were  a  natural  consequence^  of  their  good 
behaviour,  and  not  a  bargain  about  it.  But  you  will  lose 
your  labour,  and  what  is  more,  their  love  and  reverence 
too,  if  they  can  receive  from  others  what  you  deny  them. 
This  is  to  be  kept  very  stanch,^  and  carefully  to  be 
watched.  And  here  the  servants  come  again  in  my 
way. 

108.  Curiosity. — If  this  be  begun  betimes,  and  they 
accustom  themselves  early  to  silence  their  desires,  thi> 
useful  habit  will  settle  in  them;  and,  as  they  come  to 
grow  up  in  age  and  discretion,  they  may  be  allowed 
greater  liberty ;  when  reason  comes  to  speak  in  them, 
and  not  passion.  For  whenever  reason  would  speak,  it 
shoidd  be  hearkened  to.  But,  as  they  should  never  be 
heard,  when  they  speak  for  any  thing  they  would  have, 
unless  it  be  first  proposed  to  them ;  so  they  should 
always  be  heard,  and  fairly  and  kindly  answered,  when 
they  ask  after  anything  they  would  know,  and  desire  to 
be  informed  about.  (Curiosity  should  be  as  carefully 
cherished_in-x;hildrenj  as  other  ap^)etites  suppressed.^ 

1  See  sees.  43-61,  72,  84,  124. 

2  I.e.,  to  be  very  stitiiy  adhered  to. 
^  See  sec.  118, 


^ 


86  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

109.  2.  Complaints. — Children,  who  live  together,  often 
:  strive  for  mastery,  whose  wills  shall  carry  it  over  the  rest ; 

whoever  begins  the  contest,  should  be  sure  to  be  crossed 
in  it.  But  not  only  that,  but  they  should  be  taught  to 
n/  ;  have  all  the  deference,  complaisance,  and  civility  one 
^  for  the  other  imaginable.  This,  when  they  see  it  pro- 
cures them  respect,  and  that  they  lose  no  superiority  by 
it,  but  on  the  contrary,  they  grow  into  love  and  esteem 
with  every  body,  they  will  take  more  pleasure  in,  than 
in  insolent  domineering;  for  so  plainly  is  the  other. 

The  complaints  of  children  once  against  another,  which 

is  usually  but  the  desiring  the  assistance  of  another  to 

;  revenge  them,  should  not  be  favourably  received,  nor 

'  hearkened  to.     It  weakens  and  effeminates  their  minds 

/  to  suffer  them  to  complain  :  and  if  they  endure  sometimes 

crossing  or  pain  from  others,  without  being  permitted  to 

think  it  strange  or  intolerable,  it  will  do  them  no  harm  to 

learn  sufferance,  and  harden  them  early.    But,  though  you 

[     give  no  countenance  to  the  complaints  of  the  querulous, 

3'et  take  care  to  suppress  all  insolence  and  ill-nature.  1/ 
I  Wlieii  you  observe  it  yourself,  reprove  it  before  the  in- 
I  jured  party  :  but  if  the  complaint  be  of  something  really 
I  worth  your  notice  and  prevention  another  time,  then 
_£v.  ;  reprove  the  offender  by  himself  alone,  out  of  sight  of 
j  him  that  complained,  and  make  him  go  and  ask  pardon, 
i     and  make  reparation.     Which  coming  thus,  as  it  were, 

I  from  himself,  will  be  the  more  cheerfully  performed,  and 
more  kindly  received,  the  love  strengthened  between 
them,  and  a  custom  of  civility  grow  familiar  amongst 
your  children. 

110.  3.  Liberality. — As  to  the  having  and  possessing 
of  things,  teach  them  to  part  with  what  they  have  easily 
and  freely  to  their  friends;  and  let  them  find  by  ex- 
perience, that  the  most  liberal  has  always  most  plenty, 
with  esteem  and  commendation  to  boot,  and  they  will 
quickly  learn  to  practise  it.  This,  I  imagine,  will  make 
brothers  and  sisters  kinder  and  civiller  to  one  another, 
and  consequently  to  others,  than  twenty  rules  about  good 
manners,  with  which  children  are  ordinarily  perplexed 


110.  LIBERALITY— 111,   112.  CRYING  87 

and  cumbered.  Covetousness,  and  the  desire  of  ha^ang* 
in  our  possession,  and  under  our  dominion,  more  than 
we  have  need  of,  bein^  the  root  of  all  evil,  should  be 
early  and  carefully  weeded  out ;  and  the  contrary  quality, 
of  a  readiness  to  impart  to  others,  implanted.  This  should 
be  encouraged  by  great  commendation  and  credit,  and 
constantly  taking  care,  that  he  loses  nothing  by  his 
liberality.  Let  all  the  instances  he  gives  of  such  free- 
ness  be  always  repaid,  and  with  interest ;  and  let  him 
sensibly  perceive,  that  the  kindness  he  shows  to  others 
is  no  ill  husbandry  for  himself;^  but  that  it  brings  a 
return  of  kindness,  both  from  those  that  receive  it,  and 
those  who  look  on.  Make  this  a  contest  among  children, 
who  shall  out-do  one  another  this  way.  And  by  this 
means,  by  a  constant  practice,  children  having  made  it 
easy  to  themselves  to  part  with  what  they  have,  good- 
nature may  be  settled  in  them  into  an  habit,  and  they 
may  take  pleasure,  and  pique  themselves  in  being  kind, 
liberal,  and  civil  to  others. 

111.  Crying. — Crying  is  a  fault  that  should  not  be 
tolerated  in  children ;  not  only  for  the  unpleasant  and 
unbecoming  noise  it  fills  the  house  Avith,  but  for  more 
considerable  reasons,  in  reference  to  the  children  them- 
selves, which  is  to  be  our  aim  in  education. 

Their  crying  is  of  two  sorts;  either  stubbornand 
domineering,  or  querulous  and  whining. 

1.  Their  crying  is  very  often  a  contention  for  mastery, 
and  an  open  declaration  of  their  insolence  or  obstinacy ; 
when  they  have  not  the  power  to  obtain  their  desire, 
they  will,  by  their  clamour  and  sobbing,  maintain  their 
title  and  right  to  it.  This  is  open  justifying  them- 
selves, and  a  sort  of  remonstrance  of  the  unjustness 
of  the  oppression  which  denies  them  what  they  have  a 
mind  to. 

112.  2.  Sometimes  their  crying  is  the  effect  of  pain  or 
true  sorrow,  and  a  bemoaning  themselves  under  it. 

These  two,  if  carefully  observed,  may,  by  the  mien, 
looks,  and  actions,  and  particularly  by  the  tone  of  their 
1  Cf.  sec.  119. 


88  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

crying,   be   easily  distinguished ;    but    neither  of   them 
must  be  sufPered,  much  less  encouraged, 

1.  The  obstinate  or  stomachful  crying  should  by  no 
means  be  permitted ;  because  it  is  but  another  way  of 
flattering  their  desires,  and  encouraging  those  passions, 
which  'tis  our  main  business  to  subdue  :  and  if  it  be,  as 
often  it  is,  upon  the  receiving  any  correction,  it  quite 
defeats  all  the  good  effects  of  it ;  for  any  chastisement, 
which  leaves  them  in  this  declared  opposition,  only  serves 
to  make  them  worse.  The  restraints  and  punishments 
laid  on  children  are  all  misapplied  and  lost,  as  far  as 
they  do  not  prevail  over  their  wills,  teach  them  to  submit 
their  passions,  and  make  their  minds  supple  and  pliant 
to  what  their  parents'  reason  advises  them  now,  and  so 
prepare  them  to  obey  what  their  own  reason  shall  advise 
hereafter.  But  if,  in  anything  wherein  they  are  crossed, 
they  may  be  suffered  to  go  away  crying,  they  confirm 
themselves  in  their  desires,  and  cherish  the  ill  humour, 
with  a  declaration  of  their  right,  and  a  resolution  to 
satisfy  their  inclination  the  first  opportunity.  This  there- 
fore is  another  reason  why  you  should  seldom  chastise 
your  children  :  for,  Avhenever  you  come  to  that  extremity, 
'tis  not  enough  to  whip  or  beat  them ;  you  must  do  it  till 
you  find  you  have  subdued  their  minds ;  till  with  sub- 
mission and  patience  they  yield  to  the  correction ;  which 
you  shall  best  discover  by  their  crying,  and  their  ceasing 
from  it  upon  3'our  bidding.  Without  this,  the  beating  of 
children  is  but  a  passionate  tyranny  over  them  :  and  it  is 
mere  cruelty,  and  not  correction,  to  put  their  bodies  in 
pain,  without  doing  their  minds  any  good.  As  this  gives 
us  a  reason  why  children  should  seldom  be  corrected,  so 
it  also  prevents  their  being  so.  For  if,  whenever  they 
are  chastised,  it  were  done  thus  without  passion,  soberly 
and  yet  effectually  too,  laying  on  the  blows  and  smart, 
not  all  at  once,  but  slowly,  with  reasoning  between,  and 
with  observation  how  it  wrought,  stopping  when  it  had 
made  them  pliant,  penitent  and  yielding;  they  would 
seldom  need  the  like  punishment  again,  being  made 
careful  to  avoid  the  fault  that  deserved  it.     Besides,  by 


112,  113.  CRYING  89 

this  means,  as  the  punishment  Avould  not  be  lost,  for 
being  too  little,  and  not  effectual,  so  it  would  be  kept 
from  being  too  much,  if  we  gave  off  as  soon  as  we  per- 
ceived that  it  reached  the  mind,  and  that  was  bettered. 
For  since  the  chiding  or  beating  of  children  should  be 
always  the  least  that  possibly  may  be,  that  which  is  laid 
on  in  the  heat  of  anger,  seldom  observes  that  measure, 
but  is  commonly  more  than  it  should  be,  though  it  prove 
less  than  enough. 

113.  2.  Many  children  are  apt  to  cry,  upon  any  little 
pain  they  suffer ;  and  the  least  harm  that  befalls  them, 
puts  them  into  complaints  and  bawling.  This  few 
children  avoid  :  for  it  being  the  first  and  natural  way  to 
declare  their  sufferings  or  wants,  before  they  can  speak, 
the  compassion  that  is  thought  due  to  that  tender  age, 
foolishly  encourages,  and  continues  it  in  them  long 
after  they  can  speak.  'Tis  the  duty,  I  confess,  of  those 
about  children,  to  compassionate  them,  whenever  they 
suffer  a.ny  hurt ;  but  not  to  show  it  in  pitying  them. 
Help  and  ease  them  the  best  you  can,  but  by  no  means 
bemoan  them.  This  softens  their  minds,  and  makes  the 
little  harms  that  happen  to  them  sink  deep  into  that 
part  which  alone  feels,  and  make  larger  wounds  there, 
than  otherwise  they  would.  They_  should  be  hardened 
against  all  sufferings^  especially  of  the  body,  and  have  a 
tenderness  only  of  shame  and  for  reputation.  The  many 
inconveniences  this  life  is  exposed  to,  require  we  should 
not  be  too  sensible  of  ever}-  little  hurt.  What  our  minds 
yield  not  to,  makes  but  a  slight  impression,  and  does  us 
but  very  little  harm ;  ^tis  the  suffering  of  our  spirits  that 
gives  and  continues  the  pain.  This  brawniness  and 
insensibility  of  mind,  is  the  best  armour  we  can  have 
against  the  common  evils  and  accidents  of  life ;  and 
being  a  temper  that  is  to  be  got  by  exercise  and  custom, 
more  than  aiiy  other  way,  the  practice  of  it  should  be 
begun  betimes,  and  happy  is  he  that  is  taught  it  early. 
That  effeminacy  of  spirit,  which  is  to  be  prevented  or 
cured,  as  nothing,  that  I  know,  so  much  increases  in 
children   as  crying ;   so  nothing,  on  the   other  side,  so 


f 


4 


i 


90  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

much  checks  and  restrains,  as  their  being  hindered  from 
that  sort  of  complaining.  Tn  the  lihflp  harmw  thpj 
suffer,  from  knocks  and  falls,  th^y^  slmnld  not  he  pitied 
for  falling,  but  bid  do  so  again ;  which  is  a  better  way 
to  cure  their  falling  than  either  chiding  or  bemoaning 
them.  But,  let  the  hurts  they  receive  be  what  they 
will,  stop  their  crying,  and  that  will  give  them  more 
quiet  and  ease  at  present,  and  harden  them  for  the 
future. 

114.  The  former  sort  of  crying  requires  severity  to 
silence  it ;  and  where  a  look,  or  a  positive  command,  will 
not  do  it,  blows  must.  For  it  proceeding  from  pride, 
obstinacy  and  wilfulness,  the  will,  where  the  fault  lies, 
must  be  bent,  and  made  to  comply,  by  a  rigour  sufficient 
to  subdue  it :  but  this  latter,  being  ordinarily  from  soft- 
ness of  mind,  a  quite  contrary  cause,  ought  to  be  treated 
Avith  a  gentler  hand.  Persuasion,  or  diverting  the 
thoughts  another  way,  or  laughing  at  their  whining, 
may  perhaps  be  at  first  the  proper  method.  But  for 
this,  the  circumstances  of  the  thing,  and  the  particular 
temper  of  the  child,  must  be  considered :  no  certain 
unvariable  rules  can  be  given  about  it;  but  it  must  be 
left  to  the  prudence  of  the  parents  or  tutor.  But  this  I 
think  I  may  say  in  general,  that  there  should  be  a 
constant  discountenancing  of  this  sort  of  crying  also  ; 
and  that  the  father,  by  his  looks,  words,  and  authority, 
should  always  stop  it,  mixing  a  greater  degree  of  rough- 
ness in  his  looks  or  words,  proportionably  as  the  child  is 
of  a  greater  age,  or  a  sturdier  temper ;  but  always  let  it 
be  enough  to  master  the  disorder. 

[115.  Children  should  be  trained  to  he  courageous. 
Keep  children  from  frights  of  all  kinds  when  they  are 
young.  .  .  .  By  gentle  degrees  accu.«ftom  them  to 
things  they  are  too  much  afraid  of,  .  .  .  Inuring 
children  gently  to  suffer  some  degrees  of  pain  without 
shrinking  is  a  way  to  gain  firmness  to  their  minds.] 

116.*  Cruelty. — One  thing  I  have  frequently  observed 
in  children,  that  when  they  have  got  possession  of  any 
1  Sec.  110  in  first  edition. 


116.  CRUELTY  91 

poor  creature,  they  are  apt  to  use  it  ill ;  they  often 
torment  and  treat  ver}'  roughly  young  birds,  butterflies, 
and  such  other  poor  animals  which  fall  into  their  hands, 
and  that  with  a  seeming  kind  of  pleasure.  This,  I  think, 
should  be  watched  in  them ;  and  if  they  incline  to  any 
such  cruelty,  they  should  be  taught  the  contrary  usage  ; 
for  the  custom  of  tormenting  and  killing  of  beasts  will, 
by  degrees,  harden  their  minds  even  towards  men  ;  and 
they  who  delight  in  the  suffering  and  destruction  of 
inferior  creatures,  will  not  be  apt  to  be  very  compas- 
sionate or  benign  to  those  of  their  own  kind.  Our 
practice  takes  notice  of  this,  in  the  exclusion  of  butchers 
from  juries  of  life  and  death.  Children  should  from  the 
begin]ning_be^  bred  up  in  an  abhorrence  of  killing  or 
tormenting  any  living  creature^  and  be  taught  not  to  i 
spoil  oFHestroy  anything,  unless  it  be  for  the  preserva- 
tion or  advantage  of  some  other  that  is  nobler.  And 
truly,  if  the  preservation  of  all  mankind,  as  much  as  in 
him  lies,  were  every  one^s  persuasion,  as  indeed  it  is 
every  one's  duty,  and  the  true  principle  to  regulate  our 
religion,  politics,  and  morality  by,  the  world  would  be 
much  quieter  and  better  natured  than  it  is.  But  to 
return  to  our  present  business  ;  I  cannot  but  commend 
both  the  kindness  and  prudence  of  a  mother  I  knew, 
who  was  wont  always  to  indulge  her  daughters,  when 
any  of  them  desired  dogs,  squirrels,  birds,  or  any  such 
things,  as  young  girls  use ^  to  be  delighted  with:  but 
then,  when  they  had  them,  they  must  be  sure  to  keep 
them  well,  and  look  diligently  after  them,  that  they 
wanted  nothing,  or  were  not  ill  used ;  for,  if  they  were 
negligent  in  their  care  of  them,  it  was  counted  a  great 
fault,  which  often  forfeited  their  possession ;  or  at  least 
they  failed  nx3t  to  be  rebuked  for  it,  whereby  they  were 
eai'ly  taught  diligence  and  good-nature.  And,  indeed,  I 
think  people  should  be  accustomed  from  their  cradles  to 
be  tender  to  all  sensible  creatures,  and  to  spoil  or  waste 
nothing  at  all.  This  delight  they  take  in  doing  of 
mischief,  whereby  I  mean  spoiling  of  any  thing  to  no 
^  I.e.,  are  accustomed. 


92  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

purpose,  but  more  especially  the  pleasure  they  take  to 
put  any  thing  in  pain  that  is  capable  of  it,  I  cannot 
persuade  myself  to  be  any  other  than  a  foreign  and 
introduced  disposition,  a  habit  borrowed  from  custom  and 
conversation.^  People  teach  children  to  strike,  and 
laugh  Avhen  they  hurt,  or  see  harm  come  to  others ;  and 
they  have  the  examples  of  most  about  them  to  confirm 
them  in  it.  All  the  entertainments  of  talk  and  history 
is  of  nothing  almost  but  fighting  and  killing  ;  and  the 
honour  and  renown  that  is  bestowed  on  conquerors  (who 
for  the  most  part  are  but  the  great  butchers  of  mankind), 
farther  mislead  growing  youths,  who  by  this  means  come 
to  think  slaughter  the  laudable  business  of  mankind,  and 
the  most  heroic  of  virtues.  This  custom  plants  unnatural 
appetites  and  reconciles  us  to  that  which  it  has  laid  in 
the  way  to  honour.  Thus,  by  fashion  and  opinion,  that 
comes  to  be  a  pleasure,  which  in  itself  neither  is,  nor  can 
be  any.  This  ought  carefully  to  be  watched,  and  early 
remedied,  so  as  to  settle  and  cherish  the  contrar}'  and 
more  natural  temper  of  benignity  and  compassion  in  the 
room  of  it ;  but  still  by  the  same  gentle  methods,  which 
are  to  be  applied  to  the  other  two  faults  before 
mentioned.  But  pray  remember  that  the  mischiefs  or 
harms  that  come  by  play,  inadvertency,  or  ignorance, 
and  were  not  known  to  be  harms,  or  designed  for 
mischief's  sake,  though  they  may  perhaps  be  sometimes 
of  considerable  damage,  yet  are  not  at  all,  or  but  very 
gently,  to  be  taken  notice  of.  For  this,  I  think,  1  cannot 
too  often  inculcate,  that  whatever  miscarriage  a  child  is 
guilty  of,  and  whatever  be  the  consequence  of  it,  the 
thing  to  be  regarded  in  taking  notice  of  it,  is  only  what 
root  it  springs  from,  and  what  habit  it  is  like  to 
establish ;  and  to  that  the  correction  ought  to  be 
directed,  and  the  child  not  to  suffer  any  punishment  for 
any  harm  which  may  have  come  by  his  play  or  inadvert- 
ency. The  faults  to  be  amended  lie  in  the  mind ;  and  if 
they  are  such  as  either  age  will  cure,  or  no  ill  habits  will 
follow  from,  the  present  action,  whatever  displeasing 
^  I.e.,  intercourse. 


118.  CURIOSITY  93 

circumstances  it  may  have,  is  to  be  passed  by  without 
any  animadversion. 

[117.  Children  mttst  treat  servants  with  civility. 
Children  should  not  be  suffered  to  lose  the  considera- 
tion of  human  nature  in  the  shufflings  of  outward 
conditions.] 

118.^  Curiosity. — Curiosity  in  children  (which  I  had 
occasion  just  to  mention,  section  108)  is  but  an  appetite 
after  knowledge,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  encouraged 
in  them,  not  only  as  a  good  sign,  but  as  the  ^reat 
instrumentnaturg_iia&— provided  to  remove  that  ignor- 
ance^the^jXiireJiQrn  with,  and^  \vliich,  without  thTs~1&iisy 
iiTqni.siiliYPTit^sjaj-v^Till  mal^^-them  dull  aiidT  useless  creatures. 
The  ways  to  encourage  it,  and  ke4ip__j^_ac tiye^an d 
vigorous,  are,  I  suppose,  these  following : 

"HT  Not  to  check  or  discountenance  any  inquiries  he  A^,,^,^ 
shall  make,  nor  suffer  them  to  be  laughed  at;  but  to  ' p.^  , 
answer  all  his  questions,'  and  explain  the  matters  he  \ 
desires  to  know,  so  as  to  make  them  as  much  intelligible  ^^ 
to  him  as  suits  the  capacity  of  his  age  and  knowledge. 
But  confound  not  his  understanding  with  explications  or 
notions  that  are  above  it,  or  with  the  variety  or  number 
of  things  that  are  not  to  his  present  purpose.  Mark 
what  'tis  his  mind  aims  at  in  the  question,  and  not  what 
words  he  expresses  it  in :  and,  when  you  have  informed 
and  satisfied  him  in  that,  you  shall  see  how  his  thoughts 
will'  proceed  on  to  other  things,  and  how  by  fit  answers 
to  his  inquiries  he  may  be  led  on  farther  than  perhaps 
you  could  imagine.  For  knowledge  to  the  uTiderstanding 
is  acceptable  as  light  to  the  eyes:^  and  children  are 
pleased  and  delighted  with  it  exceedingly,  especially  if 
they  see  that  their  inquiries  are  regarded,  and  that  their 
desire  of  knowing  is  encouraged  and  commended.  And 
I  doubt  not,  but  one  great  reason  why  many  children 
abandon  themselves  wholly  to  silly  sports,  and  trifle 
away  all    their   time  in    trifling,  is,  because    they  have 

^  Sec.  Ill  in  first  edition. 

2  "  For  knowledge  is  grateful  to  the  understanding  as  hght  to  the 
eyes  " — in  later  editions. 


94  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

found  their  curiosity  balked,  and  their  inquiries  neglected. 
But  had  they  been  treated  with  more  kindness  and 
respect,  and  their  questions  answered,  as  they  should,  to 
their  satisfaction,  I  doubt  not  but  they  would  have  taken 
more  pleasure  in  learning,  and  improving  their  know- 
ledge, wherein  there  would  be  still  newness  and  variety, 
which  is  what  they  are  delighted  with,  than  in  returning 
over  and  over  to  the  same  play  and  playthings. 

119.  2.  To  this  serious  answering  their  questions,  and 
informing  their  understandings  in  what  they  desire,  as  if 
it  were  a  matter  that  needed  it,  should  be  added  some 
peculiar  ways  of  commendation.  Let  others,  whom  they 
esteem,  be  told  before  their  faces  of  the  knowledge  they 
have  in  such  and  such  things ;  and  since  we  are  all,  even 
from  our  cradles,  vain  and  proud  creatures,  let  their 
vanity  be  flattered  with  things  that  will  do  them  good,^ 
and  let  their  pride  set  them  on  work  on  something  which 
may  turn  to  their  advantage.  Upon  this  ground  you 
shall  find,  that  there  cannot  be  a  greater  spur  to  the 
attaining  what  you  would  have  the  eldest  learn  and 
know  himself,  than  to  set  him  upon  teaching  it  his 
younger  brothers  and  sisters. 

120.  3.  As  children's  inquiries  are  not  to  be  slighted, 
so  also  great  care  is  to  be  taken  that  they  never  receive 
deceitful  and  eluding  answers.  They  easily  perceive 
when  they  are  slighted  or  deceived,  and  quickly  learn 
the  trick  of  neglect,  dissimulation  and  falsehood,  which 
they  observe  others  to  make  use  of.  We  are  not  to 
entrench  upon  truth  in  any  conversation,  but  least  of  all 
with  children ;  since,  if  we  })lay  false  with  them,  we  not 
only  deceive  their  expectation,  and  hinder  their  know- 
ledge, but  corrupt  their  innocence,  and  teach  them  the 
worst  of  vices.  They  are  travellers  newly  arrived  in  a 
strange  country,  of  which  they  know  nothing  :  we  should 
therefore  make  conscience  not  to  mislead  them.  And 
though  their  questions  seem  sometimes  not  very  material, 
yet  they  should  be  seriously  answered ;  for  however  they 

^  This  advice,  like  that  in  section  110  on  teaching  liberality,  has 
very  naturally  made  Locke  many  tnemies. 


120.  CUEIOSITY  95 

may  appear  to  us  (to  whom  they  are  long  since  known) 
inquiries  not  worth  the  making,  they  are  of  moment  to 
those  who  are  wholly  ignorant.  Children  are  strangers 
to  all  we  are  acquainted  with ;  and  all  the  things  they 
meet  with,  are  at  first  unknown  to  them,  as  they  once 
were  to  us  :  and  happy  are  they  who  meet  with  civil 
people,  that  will  comply  with  their  ignoi-ance,  and  help 
them  to  get  out  of  it.  If  you  or  1  now  should  be  set 
down  in  Japan,  with  all  our  prudence  and  knowledge 
about  us,  a  conceit  whereof  makes  us  perhaps  so  apt  to 
slight  the  thoughts  and  inquiries  of  children ;  should  we, 
1  say,  be  set  down  in  Japan,  we  should,  no  doubt  (if  we 
would  inform  ourselves  of  what  is  there  to  be  known), 
ask  a  thousand  questions,  Avhich,  to  a  supercilious  or 
inconsiderate  Japaner,  would  seem  very  idle  and  im- 
pertinent ;  and  yet  to  us  would  be  natural ;  and  we 
should  be  glad  to  find  a  man  so  kind  and  humane  as  to 
answer  them  and  instruct  our  ignorance.  When  any 
new  thing  comes  in  their  way,  children  usually  ask  the 
common  question  of  a  stranger.  What  is  it  ?  whereby 
they  ordinarily  mean  nothing  but  the  name ;  and  there- 
fore to  tell  them  how  it  is  called,  is  usually  the  proper 
answer  to  that  demand.  The  next  question  usually  is, 
What  is  it  for?^  And  to  this  it.  should  be  answered 
truly  and  directly  :  the  use  of  the  thing  should  be  told, 
and  the  way  explained,  how  it  serves  to  such  a  purpose, 
as  far  as  their  capacities  can  comprehend  it ;  and  so  of 
any  other  circumstances  they  shall  ask  about  it;  not 
turning  them  going  till  you  have  given  them  all  the 
satisfaction  they  are  capable  of,  and  so  leading  them  by 
your  answers  into  farther  questions.  And  perhaps,  to  a 
grown  man,  such  conversation  will  not  be  altogether  so 
idle  and  insignificant  as  we  are  apt  to  imagine.  The 
native  and  untaught  suggestions  of  inquisitive_children 
do  ol'ten  otter  things  that  may  set  a  considering  man  s 
thoughts  on  work.  And  I  think  "there  is  frequently" 
more  to  be  learned  from  the  unexpected  questions  of  a 
child,  than  the  discourses  of  men,  who  talk  in  a  road, 
^  Usually  asked  at  a  later  stage  in  the  child's  development. 


96  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

according  to  the  notions  they  have  borrowed,  and  the 
prejudices  of  their  education. 

121.^  4.  Perhaps  it  may  not  sometimes  be  amiss  to 
excite  their  curiosity,  by  bringing  strange  and  new 
things  in  their  way,  on  purpose  to  engage  their  inquiry, 
and  give  them  occasion  to  inform  themselves  about 
them;  and  if  by  chance  their  curiosity  leads  them  to 
ask  what  they  should  not  know,  it  is  a  great  deal  better 
to  tell  them  plainly  that  it  is  a  thing  that  belongs  not  to 
them  to  know,  than  to  pop  them  off  with  a  falsehood  or 
a  frivolous  answer. 

122.  Peftness. — Pertness,  that  appears  sometimes  so 
early,  proceeds  from  a  principle  that  seldom  accompanies 
a  strong  constitution  of  body,  or  ripens  into  a  strong 
judgment  of  mind.  If  it  were  desirable  to  have  a  child 
a  more  brisk  talker,  I  believe  there  might  be  ways 
found  to  make  him  so;  but,  I  suppose,  a  wise  father 
had  rather  that  this  son  should  be  able  and  useful,  when 
a  man,  than  pretty  company  and  a  diversion  to  others 
whilst  a  child ;  though,  if  that  too  were  to  be  considered, 
I  think  I  may  say,  there  is  not  so  much  pleasure  to  have 
a  child  prattle  agreeably  as  to  reason  well.  Encourage, 
therefore,  his  inquisitiveness  all  you  can,  by  satisfying 
his  demands  and  informing  his  judgment  as  far  as  it  is 
capable.  When  his  reasons  are  any  way  tolerable,  let 
him  find  the  credit  and  commendation  of  them;  and 
when  they  are  quite  out  of  the  way,  let  him,  without 
being  laughed  at  for  his  mistake,  be  gently  put  into  the 
right ;  and,  take  care,  as  much  as  you  can,  that  in  this 
inclination  he  shews  to  reasoning  about  every  thing 
no  body  balk  or  impose  upon  him.  For,  when  all  is 
done,  this,  as  the  highest  and  most  important  faculty  of 
our  minds,  deserves  the  greatest  care  and  attention  in 
cultivating  it ;  the  right  improvement  and  exercise  of 
our  reason  being  the  highest  perfection  that  a  man  can 
attain  to  in  this  life. 

123.  Sauntering. — Contrary  to  this  busy  inquisitive 
temper,  there  is  sometimes  observable  in  children  a  list- 

^  Sec.  114  in  first  edition. 


123,  124.  SAUNTERING  97 

less  carelessness,  a  want  of  regard  to  any  thing,  an^ 
a  sort  of  trifling,  even  at  their  business.  This  saunterind- 
humour  I  look  on  as  one  of  the  worst  qualities  that  can 
appear  in  a  child,  as  well  as  one  of  the  hardest  to  be 
cured,  where  it  is  natural.  But,  it  being  liable  to  be 
mistaken  in  some  cases,  care  must  be  taken  to  make 
a  right  judgment  concerning  that  trifling  at  their  books 
or  business,  which  may  sometimes  be  complained  of  in  a 
child.  Upon  the  first  suspicion  a  father  has  that  his  son 
is  of  a  sauntering  temper,  he  must  carefully  observe  him,^ 
J  whether  he  be  listless  and  indifferent  in  all  his  actions  1 
J  or  whether  in  some  things  alone  he  be  slow  and  sluggish,( 
( but  in  others  vig'orous  and  eager  :  for  though  he  find 
that  he  does  loiter  at  his  book,  and  let  a  good  deal '  of 
the  time  he  spends  in  his  chamber  or  study  run  idly 
away,  he  must  not  presently  conclude  that  this  is  from  a 
sauntering  humour  in  his  temper ;  it  may  be  childish- 
ness, and  a  preferring  something  to  his  study  which  his 
thoughts  run  on ;  and  he  dislikes  his  book,  as  is  natural, 
because  it  is  forced  upon  him  as  a  task.^  To  know  this 
perfectly,  you  must  watch  him  at  play,  when  he  is  out  of 
his  place  and  time  of  study,  following  his  own  inclina- 
tions ;  and  see  there,  whether  he  be  vigorous  and  active ; 
whether  he  designs  anything,  and  with  labour  and 
eagerness  pursues  it,  till  he  has  accomplished  what  he 
aimed  at;  or  whether  he  lazily  and  listlessly  dreams 
away  his  time.  If  this  sloth  be  only  when  he  is  about 
his  book,  I  think  it  may  be  easily  cured;  if  it  be  in  his 
temper,  it  will  require  a  little  more  pains  and  attention 
to  remedy  it. 

124.  If  you  are  satisfied,  by  his  earnestness  at  play,  or 
any  thing  else  he  sets  his  mind  on,  in  the  intervals 
between  his  hours  of  business,  that  he  is  not  of  himself 
inclined  to  laziness,  but  that  only  want  of  relish  of  his 
book  makes  him  negligent  and  sluggish  in  his  applica- 
tion to  it,  the  first  step  is  to  try,  by  talking  to  him 
kindly  of  the  folly  and  inconvenience  of  it,  whereby  he 
loses  a  good  part  of  his  time,  which  he  might  have  for 

^  See  Introduction,  p.    15. 

7 


98  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

his  diversion  :  but  be  sure  to  talk  calmly  and  kindly, 
and  not  much  at  first,  but  only  these  plain  reasons  in 
short.  If  this  prevails,  you  have  gained  the  point  in  the 
most  desirable  way,  which  is  reason  and  kindness.  If  it 
prevails  not,  try  to  shame  him  out  of  it,  by  laughing  at 
him  for  it,  asking  every  day,  when  he  comes  to  table,  if 
there  be  no  strangers  there,  "  how  long  he  was  that  day 
about  his  business  ?"  And  if  he  has  not  done  it,  in  the 
time  he  might  be  well  supposed  to  have  despatched  it, 
expose  and  turn  him  into  ridicule  for  it;  but  mix  no 
chiding,  only  put  on  a  pretty  cold  brow  towards  him, 
and  keep  it  till  he  reform;  and  let  his  mother,  tutor, 
and  all  about  him,  do  so  too.^  If  this  work  not  the 
effect  you  desire,  then  tell  him  he  shall  be  no  longer 
troubled  with  a  tutor  to  take  care  of  his  education  :  you 
will  not  be  at  the  charge  to  have  him  spend  his  time  idly 
with  him;  but  since  he  prefers  this  or  that  (whatever 
play  he  delights  in)  to  his  book,  that  only  he  shall  do ; 
and  so  in  earnest  set  him  to  work  on  his  beloved  play, 
and  keep  him  steadily  and  in  earnest  to  it  morning  and 
afternoon,  till  he  be  fully  surfeited,  and  would,  at  any 
rate,  change  it  for  some  hours  at  his  book  again  :  but 
when  you  thus  set  him  a  task  of  his  play,  you  must  be 
sure  to  look  after  him  yourself,  or  set  somebody  else  to 
do  it,  that  may  constantly  see  him  employed  in  it,  and 
that  he  be  not  permitted  to  be  idle  at  that  too.  I  say, 
your  self  look  after  him;  for  it  is  worth  the  father's 
while,  whatever  business  he  has,  to  bestow  two  or  three 
days  upon  his  son,  to  cure  so  great  a  mischief  as  is 
sauntering  at  his  business. 

125.  This  is  what  I  propose,  if  it  be  idleness  not  from 
his  general  temper,  but  a  peculiar  or  acquired  aversion 
to  learning,  which  you  must  be  careful  to  examine  and 
dLstinguish,  which  you  shall  certainly  know  by  the  way 
above  j^roposed.  But  though  you  have  your  eyes  upon 
him  to  watch  what  he  does  with  the  time  he  has  at  his 
own  disposal,  yet  you  must  not  let  him  perceive  that  you 
or  any  body  else  do  so.  For  that  may  restrain  him  from 
*  See  sec.  53,  note. 


125,  126,  127.  SAUNTERING  99 

following  his  own  inclination,  and  that  being  the  thing 
his  head  or  heart  is  upon,  and  not  daring  to  prosecute  it 
for  fear  of  you,  he  may  forbear  doing  other  things,  and 
so  seem  to  be  idle  and  negligent,  when  in  truth  it  is 
nothing  but  being  intent  on  that  which  the  fear  of  your 
eye  or  knowledge  keeps  him  from  executing.  You  must 
therefore,  when  you  would  try  him,  give  him  full  liberty ; 
but  let  some  body  whom  you  can  trust  observe  what  he 
does.  And  it  will  be  best  he  should  have  his  play-day 
of  liberty,  when  you  and  all  that  he  may  suspect  to  have 
an  eye  upon  him  are  abroad,  that  so  he  may  without 
check  follow  his  natural  inclination.  Thus  by  his  em- 
ploying of  such  times  of  liberty,  you  will  easily  discern 
whether  it  be  listlessness  in  his  temper,  or  aversion 
to  his  book  that  makes  him  saunter  away  his  time  of 
study. 

126.  If  listlessness  and  dreaming  be  his  natural  dis- 
position, this  unpromising  temper  is  one  of  the  hardest 
to  be  dealt  with,  because  it  generally  carrying  with  it 
an  indifferency  for  future  things,  may  be  attributed  to 
want  of  foresight  and  want  of  desire ;  and  how  to  plant 
or  increase  either  of  these,  where  Nature  has  given  a 
cold  or  contrary  temper,  is  not  I  think  very  easy.  As 
soon  as  it  is  perceived,  the  first  thing*  to  be  done  is  to 
find  out  his  most  predominate  passion,  and  carefully 
examine  what  it  is  to  which  the  greatest  bent  of  his 
mind  has  the  most  steady  and  earnest  tendency.  And 
when  you  have  found  that,  you  must  set  that  on  work 
to  excite  His  industry  to  any  thing  else.  If  he  loves 
praise,  or  play,  or  fine  clothes,  etc.,  or,  on  the  other  side, 
dreads  shame  and  disgrace,  your  displeasure,  etc.,  what- 
ever it  be  that  he  loves  most,  except  it  be  sloth  (for  that 
will  never  set  him  on  work),  let  that  be  made  use  of  to 
excite  him  to  activity.  For  in  this  listless  temper  you 
are  not  to  fear  an  excess  of  appetite  (as  in  all  other 
cases)  by  cherishing  it.  'Tis  that  which  you  want,  and 
therefore  must  labour  to  stir  up  and  increase.  For  where 
there  is  no  desire,  there  will  be  no  industry. 

127.  If  you  have  not  hold  enough  upon  him  this  way 


<^ 


100  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

to  stir  up  vigour  and  activity  in  him,  you  must  employ 
him  in  some  constant  bodily  labour,  whereby  he  may  get 
a  habit  of  doing  something.  The  keeping  him  hard  to 
some  study,  were  the  better  way  to  get  him  an  habit  of 
exercising  and  applying  his  mind.  But,  because  this  is 
an  invisible  attention,  and  nobody  can  tell  when  he  is  or 
is  not  idle  at  it,  you  must  find  bodily  employments  for 
him,  which  he  must  be  constantly  busied  in  and  kept  to ; 
and  if  they  have  some  little  hardship  and  shame  in  them, 
it  may  not  be  the  worse,  to  make  them  the  sooner  weary 
him,  and  desire  to  return  to  his  book.  But  be  sure,  when 
you  exchange  his  book  for  his  other  labour,  set  him  such 
a  task,  to  be  done  in  such  a  time,  as  may  allow  him  no 
opportunity  to  be.  idle.  Only,  after  you  have  by  this 
way  brought  him  to  be  attentive  and  industrious  at  his 
book,  you  may,  upon  his  despatching  his  study  within 
the  time  set  him,  give  him  as  a  reward  some  respite  from 
his  other  labour;  which  you  may  diminish,  as  you  find 
him  grow  more  and  more  steady  in  his  application ;  and, 
at  last,  wholly  take  off,  when  his  sauntering  at  his  book 
is  cured. 

■^  128.  Compulsion. — We  formerly  observed,  that  variety 
and  freedom  was  that  that  delighted  children,  and  re- 
commended their  plays  to  them  ;  and  that  therefore  their 
book,  or  anything  we  would  have  them  learn,  should  not 
be  enjoined  them  as  business.^  This  their  parents,  tutors, 
and  teachers  are  apt  to  forget ;  and  their  impatience  to 
have  them  busied  in  what  is  fit  for  them  to  do  suffers 
them  not  to  deceive  them  into  it :  but,  by  the  repeated 
injunctions  they  meet  with,  children  quickly  distinguish 
between  what  is  requii-ed  of  them  and  what  not.  When 
this  mistake  has  once  made  his  book  uneasy  to  him,  the 
cure  is  to  be  applied  at  the  other  end.  And  since  it  will  be 
then  too  late  to  endeavour  to  make  it  a  play  to  him,  you 
must  take  the  contrary  course;  observe  what  play  he  is 
most  delighted  with ;  enjoin  that,  and  make  him  play  so 
many  hours  every  day,  not  as  a  punishment  for  playing, 

1  Sees.  72-74,  84,  123,  148,  149,  167,  202.     Cf.  sees.  126, 127,  and 
see  Introduction,  p.  15. 


128,  129.  COMPULSION  101 

but  as  if  it  were  the  business  required  of  him.  This,  if 
I  mistake  not,  will,  in  a  few  days,  make  him  so  weary  of 
his  most  beloved  sport,  that  he  will  prefer  his  book,  or 
any  thing  to  it,  especially  if  it  may  redeem  him  from  an}^ 
part  of  the  task  of  play  that  is  set  him ;  and  he  may  be 
suffered  to  employ  some  part  of  the  time  destined  to  his 
task  of  play  in  his  book,  or  such  other  exercise  as  is 
really  useful  to  hiin.  This  I  at  least  think  a  better  cure 
than  that  forbidding  (which  usually  increases  the  desii*e) 
or  any  other  punishment  that  should  be  made  use  of  to 
remedy  it.  For  when  you  have  once  glutted  his  appetite 
(which  may  safely  be  done  in  all  things  but  eating  and 
drinking),  and  made  him  surfeit  of  what  you  would  have 
him  avoid,  you  have  put  into  him  a  principle  of  aversion, 
and  you  need  not  so  much  fear  afterwards  his  longing 
for  the  same  thing  again. 

129.  This,  I  think,  is  sufficiently  evident,  that  children 
generally  hate  to  be  idle.  All  the  care  then  is,  that  their 
busy  humour  should  be  constantly  employed  in  something 
of  use  to  them ;  which  if  you  will  attain,  you  must  make 
what  you  would  have  them  do  a  recreation  to  them,  and 
not  a  business.  The  way  to  do  this,  so  that  they  may 
not  perceive  you  have  any  hand  in  it,  is  this  proposed 
here,  viz.  to  make  them  weary  of  that  which  you  would 
not  have  them  do,  by  enjoining  and  making  them,  under 
some  pretence  or  other,  do  it  till  they  are  surfeited.  For 
exatnple  :  Does  your  son  play  at  top  and  scourge  too 
much  ?  Enjoin  him  to  play  so  many  hours  every  day, 
and  look  that  he  do  it ;  and  y(ni  shall  see  he  will  quickly 
be  sick  of  it,  and  willing  to  leave  it.  By  this  means, 
(vmaking  the  recreations  you  dislike  a  business  to  him,  ha 
Will  of  himself  with  delight  betake  himself  to  those  things! 
/you  would  have  him  do,  especially  if  they  be  proposed  as\ 
^rewards  for  having  performed  his  task  in  that  play  which  / 
is  commanded  him.  For,  if  he  be  ordered  every  day  to 
whip  his  top  so  long  as  to  make  him  sufficiently  weary, 
do  you  not  think  he  will  apply  himself  with  eagerness  to 
his  book,  and  wish  for  it,  if  you  promise  it  him  as  a  reward 
of  having  whipped  his  top  lustil}',  quite  out  all  the  time 


102  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

that  is  set  him  ?^  Children,  in  the  things  they  do,  if  they 
comport  with  their  age,  find  little  difference,  so  they  may 
he  doing :  the  esteem  they  have  for  one  thing  above 
another,  they  borrow  from  others;  so  that  what  those 
about  them  make  to  be  a  reward  to  them,  will  really  be 
so.  By  this  art,  it  is  in  their  governor's  choice,  whether 
scotch-hoppers  shall  reward  their  dancing,  or  dancing 
their  scotch-hoppers ;  whether  peg-top,  or  reading,  play- 
ing at  trap,  or  studying  the  globes,  shall  be  more  acoept- 
l^ab]e  and  pleasing  to  them;  all  that  they  desire  being  to 
^  I  be  busy,  and  busy,  as  they  imagine,  in  things  of  their 
own  choice,  and  which  they  receive  as  favours  from  their 
yff\|  parents,  or  others  for  whom  they  have  respect,  and  with 
ij  whom  they  would  be  in  credit.  A  set  of  children  thus 
ordered,  and  kept  from  the  ill  example  of  others,  would 
all  of  them,  I  suppose,  with  as  much  earnestness  and 
delight,  learn  to  read,  write,  and  what  else  one  would 
have  them,  as  others  do  their  ordinary  plays  :  and  the 
eldest  being  thus  entered,  and  this  made  the  fashion  of 
the  place,  it  would  be  as  impossible  to  hinder  them  from 
learning  the  one,  as  it  is  ordinarily  to  keep  them  from 
the  other. 

•130.  Play-games. — Playthings,  I  think,  children  should 
have,  and  of  all  sorts,  but  still  to  be  in  the  keeping  of 
their  tutors,  or  somebody  else,  whereof  the  child  should 
have  in  his  power  but  one  at  once,_and  should  not  be 
I  suffered   to   have  another,  but  Avhen  he   restored   that. 
I  This  teaches  them  betimes  to  be  careful  of  not  losing  or 
I  spoiling  the  things  they  have;  whereas  plenty  and  variety 
I   in  their  own  keeping,  makes  them  wanton  and  careless, 
/    and  teaches  them  from  the  beginning  to  be  squanderers 
I    and  wasters,^     These,  I  confess,  are  little  things,  and 
I  j    such  as  will  seem  beneath  the  care  of  a  governor ;  but 
nothing  that  may  form  children's  minds  is  to  be  over- 
looked and  neglected  :  and  whatsoever  introduces  habits, 
and  settles  customs  in  them,  deserves  the  care  and  atten- 
tion of  their  governors,  and  is  not  a  small  thing  in  its 
consequences, 

^  I.e.,  throughout  the  stipulated  time.  ^  Sees.  150-154. 


131.  LYING— 132.  EXCUSES  103 

[Ki-cept  things  like  battle-dores,  ivhich  are  above  their 
skill,  j^aythings  should  not  he_  bought,  but  contrived  by 
cJiildren  themselves.  "If  they  sit  gaping  to  have  such 
things  drop  into  their  mouths,  they  should  go  without 
them."] 

131.  Lying. — Lying  is  so  ready  and  cheap  a  cover  for 
any  miscarriage,  and   so  much  in  fashion  amongst  all 
sorts  of  people,  that  a  child  can  hardly  avoid  observing 
the  use  is  made  of  it  on  all  occasions,  and  so  can  scarce 
be  kept,  without  great  care,  from  getting  into  it.     But 
it  is  so  ill  a  quality,  and  the  mother  of  so  many  ill  ones 
that  spawn  from  it  and  take  shelter  under  it,  that  a  child  | 
should  be  brought  up  in  the  greatest  abhorrence  of  it  j 
imaginable :  it  should  be  always   (when  occasionally  it 
comes  to  be  mentioned)   spoke  of  before  him  with  the 
utmost  detestation,  as  a  quality  so  wholly  incompetent    \ 
with  a  gentleman,  that  nobody  of  any  credit  can  bear  1 
the  imputation  of  a  lie ;  that  is  proper  only  to  beggars'-  ' 
boys  and  the  abhorred  rascality,  and  not  tolerable  in  a-ny   1 
one,  who  would  converse  with  people  of  condition,  or  have    * 
any  esteem  or  reputation  in  the  world.     And  the  first  \ 

(time  he  is  found  in  a  lie,  it  should  rather  be  wondered  f 
at,  as  a  monstrous  thing  in  him,  than  reproved  as  an) 
ordinary  fault.  If  that  keeps  him  not  from  relapsing, 
the  next  time  he  must  be  sharply  rebuked,  and  fall  into 
the  state  of  great  displeasure  of  his  father  and  mother, 
and  all  about  him,  who  take  notice  of  it.  And  if  this 
way  work  not  the  cure,  you  must  come  to  blows;  for, 
after  he  has  been  thus  warned,  a  premeditated  lie  must 
always  be  looked  upon  as  obstinacy,  and  never  be  per- 
mitted to  ^scape  unpunished. 

132.  Excuses. — Children,  afraid  to  have  their  faults 
seen  in  their  naked  colours,  will,  like  the  rest  of  the 
sons  of  Adam,  be  apt  to  make  excuses.  This  is  a  fault 
usually  bordering  upon,  and  leading  to  untruth,  and  is 
not  to  be  indulged  in  them;  but  yet,  it  ought  to  be 
cured  rather  with  shame  than  roughness.  If  therefore, 
when  a  child  is  questioned  for  anything,  his  first  answer 
be  an  excuse,  warn  him  soberly  to  tell  the  truth;  and 


104  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

then,  if  he  persists  to  shuffle  it  off  with  a  falsehood,  he 
must  be  chastised.  But  if  he  directly  confess,  you  must 
commend  liis  ingenuity,^  and  pardon  the  fault,  be  it 
what  it  will ;  and  pardon  it  so,  that  you  never  so  much 
as  reproach  him  with  it,  or  mention  it  to  him  again.  For 
if  you  would  have  him  in  love  with  ingenuity,  and  by  a 
constant  practice  make  it  habitual  to  him,  you  must  take 
care  that  it  never  procure  him  the  least  inconvenience  ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  his  own  confession  bringing  always 
with  it  perfect  impunity,  should  be,  besides,  encouraged 
by  some  marks  of  approbation.  If  his  excuse  be  such  at 
any  time  that  you  cannot  prove  it  to  have  any  falsehood 
in  it,  let  it  pass  for  true,  and  be  sure  not  to  show  any 
suspicion  of  it.  Let  him  keep  up  his  reputation  with 
you  as  high  as  is  possible;  for,  when  once  he  finds  he 
has  lost  that,  you  have  lost  a  great  and  your  best  hold 
upon  him.  Therefore  let  him  not  think  he  has  the 
character  of  a  liar  with  you,  as  long  as  you  can  avoid  it 
without  flattering  him  in  it.  Thus  some  sHps  in  truth 
may  be  overlooked.  But,  after  he  has  once  been  corrected 
for  a  lie,  you  must  be  sure  never  after  to  pardon  it  in 
him,  whenever  you  find,  and  take  notice  to  him,  that  he 
is  guilty  of  it :  for  it  being  a  fault,  which  he  has  been  forbid, 
and  may,  unless  he  be  wilful,  avoid,  the  repeating  of  it 
is  perfect  perverseness,  and  must  have  the  chastisement 
due  to  that  offence. 

133.  This  is  what  I  have  thought,  concerning  the 
general  method  of  educating  a  young  gentleman ;  which, 
though  I  am  apt  to  suppose  may  have  some  influence  on 
the  whole  course  of  his  education,  yet  I  am  far  from 
imagining  it  contains  all  those  particulars  which  his 
growing  years  or  peculiar  temper  may  require.  But  this 
being  premised  in  general,  we  shall,  in  the  next  place, 
descend  to  a  more  particular  consideration  of  the  several 
parts  of  his  education. 

134.  That  which  every  gentleman  (that  takes  any  care 
of  his  education)  desires  for  his  son,  besides  the  estate 
he  leaves  him,  is  contained  I  suppose  in  these  four  things, 

*  I.P.,  ingenuousness,  candour. 


135.  VIRTUE— 136.  GOD  105 

Virtue,  Wisdom,  Breeding;,  and  Learning.  I  will  not 
trouble  myself  whether  these  names  do'iiof"some  of  them 
sometimes  stand  for  the  same  thing,  or  really  include  one 
another.  It  serves  my  turn  here  to  follow  the  popular 
use  of  these  words,  which,  I  presume,  is  clear  enough  to 
make  me  be  understood,  and  I  hope  there  will  be  no 
difficulty  to  comprehend  my  meaning. 

135.  Virtue. — I    place    Virtue    as    the  first    and    most 
necessary  of  those  endowments  that  belong  to  a  man  or 

a  gentleman,  as  absolutely  requisite  to  make  him  valued        v 
and  beloved  by  others,  acceptable  or  tolerable  to  himself  ;     ' 
without  that,  I  think,  he  will  be  happy  neither  in  this  nor 
the  other  world. 

136.  God. — As  the  foundation  of  this,  there  ought  very 
early  to  be  imprinted  on  his  mind  a  true  notion  of  God, 
as  of  the  independent  Supreme  Being,  Author  and  Maker 
of  all  things,  from  whom  we  receive  all  our  good,  who 
loves  us,  and  gives  us  all  things  ;  and,  consequent  to  it, 
a  love  and  reverence  of  this  Supreme  Being.  This  is 
enough  to  begin  with,  without  going  to  explain  this  matter 
any  farther,  for  fear,  lest  by  talking  too  early  to  him  of 
spirits,  and  being  unseasonably  forward  to  make  him 
understand  the  incomprehensible  nature  of  that  infinite 
being,  his  head  be  either  filled  with  false,  or  perplexed 
with  unintelligible  notions  of  him.  Let  him  only  be  told 
upon  occasion,  of  God,  that  made  and  governs  all  things, 
hears  and  sees  everything,  and  does  all  manner  of  good 
to  those  that  love  and  obey  him.  You  will  find,  that 
being  told  of  such  a  God,  other  thoughts  will  be  apt  to 
rise  up  fast  enough  in  his  mind  about  him ;  which,  as  you 
observe  them  to  have  any  mistakes,  you  must  set  right. 
And  I  think  it  would  be  better,  if  men  generally  rested  in 
such  an  idea  of  God,  without  being  too  curious  in  their 
notions  about  a  being,  which  all  must  acknowledge  in- 
comprehensible ;  whereby  many,  who  have  not  strength 
and  clearness  of  thought  to  distinguish  between  what 
they  can,  and  what  they  cannot  know,  run  themselves 
into  superstition  or  atheism,  making  God  like  themselves, 
or  (because  they  cannot  comprehend  any  thing  else)  none 


106  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

at  all.^  [And  I  am  apt  to  think,  the  keeping  children  con- 
stantly morning  and  evening  to  acts  of  devotion  to  God, 
as  to  their  Maker,  Preserver,  and  Benefactor,  in  some 
plain  and  short  form  of  prayer,  suitable  to  their  age  and 
capacity,  will  be  of  much  more  use  to  them  in  religion, 
knowledge,  and  virtue,  than  to  distract  their  thoughts 
with  curious  inquiries  into  his  inscrutable  essence  and 
being.] 

137.  Spirits. — Having  by  gentle  degrees,  as  you  find 
him  capable  of  it,  settled  such  an  idea  of  God  in  his  mind, 
and  taught  him  to  pray  to  him,  forbear  any  discourse  of 
other  spirits,  till  the  mention  of  them  coming  in  his  way, 
upon  occasion  hereafter  to  be  set  down,  and  his  reading 
the  Scripture  history,  put  him  upon  that  inquiry .^ 

138.  Goblins. — But  even  then,  and  always  whilst  he  is 
young,  be  sure  to  preserve  his  tender  mind  from  all 
impressions  and  notions  of  sprites  and  goblins,  or  any 
fearful  apprehensions  in  the  dark.  It  being  the  usual 
method  of  servants  to  awe  children,  and  keep  them  in 
subjection,  by  telling  them  of  Eaw-Head  and  Bloody- 
Bones,  and  such  other  names,  as  carry  with  them  the 
ideas  of  some  hurtful,  terrible  things  inhabiting  darkness, 
this  must  be  carefully  prevented.  For  though  by  this 
foolish  way  they  may  keep  them  from  little  faults,  yet 
the  remedy  is  much  worse  than  the  disease,  and  there  are 
stamped  upon  their  minds  ideas  that  follow  them  with 
terror  and  affrightment.  For  such  bugbear  thoughts, 
once  got  into  the  tender  minds  of  children,  sink  deep 
there,  and  fasten  themselves  so,  as  not  easily,  if  ever,  to 
be  got  out  again  ;  and  whilst  they  are  there,  frequently 
haunt  them  with  strange  visions,  making  children  dastards 
when  alone,  and  afraid  of  their  shadows  and  darkness 
all  their  lives  after.  For  it  is  to  be  taken  notice,  that  the 
first  impressions  sink  deepest  into  the  minds  of  children, 
and  the  notions  they  are  possessed  with  when  young  are 
scarce  by  axvy  industry  or  art  ever  after  quite  wiped  out. 

^  With    this   deistic   creed    contrast    the    recommendations    for 
religious  instruction  in  sees.  157-159  below. 
2  See  sees.  191,  192. 


138.  GOBLINS  107 

I  have  had  those  complain  to  me,  when  men,  who  had  been 
thus  used  when  young,  that,  though  their  reason  cor- 
rected the  wrong  ideas  they  had  taken  in,  and  though 
they  were  satisfied  that  there  was  no  cause  to  fear  in- 
visible beings  more  in  the  dark  than  in  the  light,  yet  that 
these  notions  were  apt  still,  upon  any  occasion,  to  start 
up  first  in  their  prepossessed  fancies,  and  not  to  be  removed 
without  some  pains.  And,  to  let  you  see  how  lasting 
frightful  images  are,  that  take  place  in  the  mind  early,  I 
here  tell  you  a  pretty  remarkable,  but  true  story.  There 
was  in  a  town  in  the  West  a  man  of  a  disturbed  brain, 
whom  the  boys  used  to  tease,  when  he  came  in  their 
way  :  this  fellow  one  day,  seeing  in  the  street  one  of 
those  lads  that  used  to  vex  him,  stepped  into  a  cutler's 
shop  he  was  near,  and,  there  seizing  on  a  naked  sword, 
made  after  the  boy,  who  seeing  him  coming  so  armed, 
betook  himself  to  his  feet,  and  ran  for  his  life,  and  by 
good  luck,  had  strength  and  heels  enough  to  reach  his 
father's  house  before  the  madman  could  get  up  to  him. 
The  door  was  only  latched  ;  and  when  he  had  the  latch 
in  his  hand,  he  turned  about  his  head  to  see  how  near  his 
pursuer  was,  who  was  at  the  entrance  of  the  porch,  with 
his  sword  up  ready  to  strike  ;  and  he  had  just  time  to 
get  in  and  clap-to  the  door,  to  avoid  the  blow,  which, 
though  his  body  escaped,  his  mind  did  not.  This  frighten- 
ing idea  made  so  deep  an  impression  there,  that  it  lasted 
marly  years,  if  not  all  his  life  after  ;  for  telling  this  story 
when  he  was  a  man,  he  said,  that  after  that  time  till  then, 
he  never  went  in  at  that  door  (that  he  could  remember) 
at  any  time,  without  looking  back,  whatever  business  he 
had  in  his  head,  or  how  little  soever,  before  he  came 
thither,  he  thought  of  this  madman. 

If  children  were  let   alouft,   tb^y   wnnlH    bft  nf>  \\]nr^ 
afraid  in  the  dark  than  of  broad  sunshine;^  they  would 

<     ^  It  is  characteristic  of  Loclie's  psychology  to  explain  fear  of" 
ydarkness  as  a  result  of  personal  experience.     But  many  children/ 
(spontaneously,   and  quite  apart   from   experience,  exhibit   fear  of> 
/darkness  and  of  strangers,  two  forms  of  that  emotion  which  were 
I  wholesome  at  a  remote  period  of  human  history,  though  they  have 
*  now  outlived  their  usefulness  in  normal  cinlized  life. 


^ 


^ 


108  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

in  their  turns  as  much  welcome  the  one  for  sleep,  as  the 
other  to  play  in  ;  there  should  be  no  distinction  made  to 
them,  by  any  discourse,  of  more  danger  or  terrible  things 
in  the  one  than  the  other.  But,  if  the  folly  of  any  one 
about  them  should  do  them  this  harm,  to  make  them 
think  there  is  any  difference  between  being  in  the  dark 
and  winking,  you  must  get  it  out  of  their  minds  as  soon 
as  you  can  ;  and  let  them  know  that  God,  who  made  all 
things  good  for  them,  made  the  night,  that  they  might 
sleep  the  better  and  the  quieter ;  and  that  they  being 
under  his  protection,  there  is  nothing  in  the  dark  to  hurt 
them.  What  is  to  be  known  more  of  God  and  good 
spirits  is  to  be  deferred  till  the  time  we  shall  hereafter 
mention  ;  and  of  evil  spirits,  it  will  be  well  if  you  can 
keep  him  from  wrong  fancies  about  them,  till  he  ia  ripe 
for  that  sort  of  knowledge. 

j  139.  Truth. — Having  laid  the  foundations  of  virtue  in 
j  a  true  notion  of  a  God,  such  as  the  creed  wisely  teaches, 
as  far  as  his  age  is  capable,  and  by  accustoming  him  to 
j  pray  to  him,  the  next  thing  to  be  taken  care  of,  is  to  keep 
I  him  exactbL-to-apeaking  of  trntb^  and  by  all  the  ways 
imaginable  inclining  him  to  'be  good-natured.  Let  him 
know,  that  twenty  faults  are  sooner  to  be  forgiven,  than 
the  straining  of  truth  to  cover  any  one  by  an  excuse. 
And  to  teach  him  betimes  to  love  and  be  good-natured 
to  others,  is  to  lay  early  the  true  foundation  of  an  honest 
man  ;  all  injustice  generally  springing  from  too  great  love 
of  ourselves  and  too  little  of  others. 

This  is  all  I  shall  say  of  this  matter  in  general,  and  is 
enough  for  laying  the  first  foundations  of  virtue  in  a 
child.  As  he  grows  up,  the  tendency  of  his  natural  in- 
clination^ must  be  observed ;  which,  as  it  inclines  him, 
more  than  is  convenient,  on  one  or  t'other  side,  from  the 
right  path  of  virtue,  ought  to  have  proper  remedies 
applied.  For  few  of  Adam's  children  are  so  happy  as 
not  to  be  born  with  some  bias  in  their  natural  temper, 
which  it  is  the  business  of  education  either  to  take  off, 
or  counterbalance :  but  to  enter  into  particulars  of  this, 
^   See  sec.  101,  note. 


139.  TEUTH— 140.  WISDOM  109 

would  be  beyond  the  design  of  this  short  treatise  of 
education.  I  intend  not  a  discourse  of  all  the  virtues 
and  vices,  and  how  each  virtue  is  to  be  attained,  and 
every  particular  vice  by  its  peculiar  remedies  cured  ; 
though  I  have  mentioned  some  of  the  most  ordinary 
faults,  and  the  ways  to  be  used  in  correcting  them. 

140.  Wisdom. — Wisdom  I  take,  in  the  popular  accepta-\ 
/tion,  for  a  man's  managing  liis  business  ably  and  with/ 
[foresight  in  this  world.     This  is  the  product  of  a  good 
natural    temper,    appHcation    of    mind    and    experience 
together,  and  not  to  be  taUght  children.     The  greatest 
thing  that  in  them  can  be  done  towards  it,  is  to  hinder 
them,  as  much  as  may  be,  from  being  cunning ;  which, 
being  the  ape  of  wisdom,  is  the  most  distant  from  it  that 
can  be  :  and  as  ^  an  ape,  for  ^  the  likeness  it  has  to  a  man, 
wanting  what  really  should  make  him  so,  is  by  so  much 
the  uglier.     Cunning  is  only  the  ^vant  of  understanding ; 
which,  because  it  cannot  compass  its  ends  by  direct  ways, 
would   do  it  by   a   trick  and  circumvention ;   and  the 
mischief  of  it  is,  a  cunning  trick  helps  but  once,  but 
hinders  ever  after.     No  cover  was  ever  made  either  so 
big  or  so  fine  as  to  hide  itself.     Nobody  was  ever  so 
cunning,  as  to  conceal  their  being  so  :  and  when  they  are 
once  discovered,  every  body  is  shy,  every  body  distrust- 
ful of  crafty  men  ;  and  all  the  w^orld  forwardly  join  to 
oppose  and  defeat  them  :  whilst  the  open,  fair,  wise  man 
has  every  body  to  make  way  for  him,  and  goes  directly 
to  his  business.     To  accustom  a  child  to  have  true  notions 
of  things,  and  not  to  be  satisfied  till  he  has  them  ;  to  raise 
his  mind  to  great  and  worthy  thoughts  ;  and  to  keep  him 
at  a  distance  from  falsehood  and  cunning,  which  has 
always  a  broad  mixture  of  falsehood  in  it,  is  the  fittest 
preparation  of  a  child  for  wisdom,  which  being  learned 
from  time,  experience,  and  observation,  and  an  acquaint- 
ance with  men,  their  tempers  and  designs  [is]  not  to  be 
expected  in  the  ignorance  and  inadvertency  of  childhood, 
or  the  inconsiderate  heat  and  unwariness  of  youth  :  all 
that  can  be  done  towards  it,  during  this  unripe  age,  is, 
^  I.e.,  like.  ^  j  g.^  because  of. 


no  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

as  I  have  said,  to  accustom  them  to  truth  and  submission 
to  reason ;  and,  as  much  as  may  be,  to  reflection  on  their 
own  actions. 

141.  Breedimj. — The  next  good  quality  belonging  to  a 
gentleman  is  good  breeding.  There  are  two  sorts  of  ill 
breeding  ;  the  one^  a  sheepish  bashfulness  ;  and  the  other, 
a  misbecoining  negligence  and  disrespect  in  our  carriage  ; 
both  which  are'a\oided  by  dlily  observing  this  one  rule, 
Not  to  think  meanly  of  ourselves,  and  not  to  think  meanly 
of  others.^ 

142.  The  first  part  of  this  rule  must  not  be  understood 
in  opposition  to  humihty,  but  to  assurance.  We  ought 
not  to  think  so  well  of  ourselves  as  to  stand  upon  our 
own  value  ;  or  assume  a  preference  to  others,  because  of 
any  advantage  we  may  imagine  we  have  over  them ;  but 
modestly  to  take  what  is  offered,  when  it  is  our  due. 
But  yet  we  ought  to  think  so  well  of  ourselves,  as  to 
perform  those  actions  which  are  incumbent  on  and  ex- 
pected of  us,  without  discomposure  or  disorder,  in  whose 
presence  soever  we  are,  keeping  that  respect  and  distance 
which  is  due  to  every  one's  rank  and  quality.  There  is 
often  in  people,  especially  children,  a  clownish  shame- 
facedness  before  strangers,  or  those  above  them  ;  they  are 
confounded  in  their  thoughts,  words,  and  looks,  and  so 
lose  themselves  in  that  confusion,  as  not  to  be  able  to 
do  any  thing,  or  at  least  not  to  do  it  with  that  freedom 
and  gracefulness  which  pleases  and  makes  them  accept- 
able. The  only  cure  for  this,  as  for  any  miscarriage,  is 
by  use  to  introduce  the  contrary  habit.  But  since  we 
cannot  accustom  ourselves  to  converse  with  strangers 
and  persons  of  quality  without  being  in  their  company, 
nothing  can  cure  this  part  of  ill  breeding  but  change 
and  variety  of  company,  and  that  of  persons  above  us. 

143.  As  the  before-mentioned  consists  in  too  great  a 
concern  how  to  behave  ourselves  towards  others,  so  the 
other  part  of  ill  breeding  lies  in  the  appearance  of  too 
Httle  care  of  pleasing  or  showing  respect  to  those  we  have 

^  With  sees.  141-146  cf.  Montaigne,  i.,  cliap.  xxv.,  "En  cette 
eschole  du  commerce  des  hommes,"  etc.,  and  i.,  chap,  xxiii. 


143,  144.  BREEDING  HI 

to  do  with.  To  avoid  these,  two  things  are  requisite : 
first,  a  disposition  of  the  mind  not  to  offend  others  :  and, 
secondly,  the  most  acceptable  and  agreeable  way  of 
expressing  that  disposition.  From  the  one,  men  are 
called  civil :  from  the  other,  well-fashioned.  The  latter 
of  these  is  that  decency  and  gracefulness  of  looks,  voice, 
words,  motions,  gestures,  and  of  all  the  whole  outward 
demeanour  which  pleases  in  company,  and  makes  those 
easy  and  dehghted  whom  we  converse  with.  This  is, 
as  it  were,  the  language  whereby  that  internal  civility 
of  the  mind  is  expressed  ;  and  being  very  much  governed 
by  the  fashion  and  custom  of  every  country,  as  other 
languages  are,  must,  in  the  rules  and  practice  of  it,  be 
learned  chiefly  from  observation,  and  the  carriage  of 
those  who  are  allowed  to  be  exactly  well-bred.  The 
other  part,  which  lies  in  the  mind,  is  that  general  good- 
will and  regard  for  all  people,  which  makes  any  one  have 
a  care  not  to  show,  in  his  carriage,  any  contempt,  dis- 
respect, or  neglect  of  them  ;  but  to  express,  according 
to  the  fashion  and  w^ay  of  that  country,  a  respect  and 
value  for  them,  according  to  their  rank  and  condition. 

144.  There  is  another  fault  in  good  manners,  and  that 
is,  excess  of  ceremony ^  and  an  obstinate  persisting  to 
force  upon  another  what  is  not  his  due,  and  what  he 
cannot  take  without  folly  or  shame.  This  seems  rather 
a  design  to  expose  than  oblige,  or  at  least  looks  like  a 
contest  for  mastery  ;  and  at  best  is  but  troublesome,  and 
so  can  be  no  part  of  good  breeding,  which  has  no  other 
use  nor  end  but  to  make  people  easy  and  satisfied  in 
their  conversation  with  us.  This  is  a  fault  few  young 
people  are  apt  to  fall  into ;  but  yet,  if  they  are  ever 
guilty  of  it,  or  are  suspected  to  incline  that  way,  they 
should  be  told  of  it,  and  warned  of  this  mistaken  civility. 
The  thing  they  should  endeavour  and  aim  at  in  conversa- 
tion, should  be  to  show  respect,  esteem,  and  good-will, 
by  paying  to  every  one  that  common  ceremony  and  regard 
which  is  in  civility  due  to  them.  To  do  this,  without  a 
suspicion  of  flattery,  dissimulation,  or  meanness,  is  a 
great  skill,  which  good  sense,  reason  and  good  company 


112  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

can  only  teach  ;  but  is  of  so  much  use  in  civil  life,  that  it 
is  well  worth  the  studying. 

145.  Though  the  managing  ourselves  well  in  this  part 
of  our  behaviour  has  the  name  of  good  breeding,  as  if 
peculiarly  the  effect  of  education  ;  yet,  as  I  have  said, 
young  children  should  not  be  much  perplexed  about  it ; 
I  mean,  about  putting  off  their  hats  and  making  legs 
modishly.^  Teach  them  humility  and  to  be  good- 
natured  if  you  can,  and  this  sort  of  manners  will  not  be 
wanting :  civility  being,  in  truth,  nothing  but  a  care  not 
to  show  any  slighting  or  contempt  of  any  one  in  con- 
versation. What  are  the  most  allowed  and  esteemed 
ways  of  expressing  this,  we  have  above  observed.  It  is 
as  peculiar  and  different,  in  several  countries  of  the  world, 
as  their  languages  :  and  therefore,  if  it  be  rightly  con- 
sidered, rules  and  discourses,  made  to  children  about  it, 
are  as  useless  and  impertinent  as  it  would  be  now  and  then 
to  give  a  rule  or  two  of  the  Spanish  tongue  to  one  that 
converses  only  with  EngUshmen.  Be  as  busy  as  you 
please  with  discourses  of  civihty  to  your  son ;  such  as  is 
his  company,  such  will  be  his  manners.  A  ploughman 
of  your  neighbourhood,  that  has  never  been  out  of  his 
parish,  read  what  lectures  you  please  to  him,  will  be  as 
soon  in  his  language,  as  his  carriage,  a  courtier ;  that  is, 
in  neither  will  be  more  polite  than  those  he  uses  to 
converse  with  :  and  therefore  of  this  no  other  care  can 
be  taken.  And,  in  good  earnest,  if  I  were  to  speak  my 
mind  freely,  so  children  do  nothing  out  of  obstinacy, 
pride,  and  ill-nature,  it  is  no  great  matter  how  they  put 
off  their  hats  or  make  legs.  If  you  can  teach  them  to 
love  and  respect  other  people,  they  will,  as  their  age 
requires  it,  find  ways  to  express  it  acceptably  to  every 
one,  according  to  the  fashions  they  have  been  used  to  : 
and,  as  to  their  motions,  and  carriage  of  their  bodies,  a 
dancing-master,  as  has  been  said,  when  it  is  fit,  will  teach 
them  what  is  most  becoming.  In  the  meantime,  when 
they  are  young,  people  expect  not  that  children  should 
be  over-mindful  of  these  ceremonies ;  carelessness  is 
1  I.e.,  bowing  in  the  accustomed  fashion. 


145.  BREEDING— 146.  COMPANY  113 

allowed  to  that  age,  and  becomes  them  as  well  as  compli- 
ments do  grown  people :  or,  at  least,  if  some  very  nice  ^ 
people  will  think  it  a  fault,  I  am  sm-e  it  is  a  fault  that 
should  be  over-looked,  and  left  to  time  and  conversation 
only  to  cure :  and  therefore  I  think  it  not  worth  your 
while  to  have  your  son  (as  I  often  see  children  are) 
molested  or  chid  about  it.  But  where  there  is  pride  or 
ill-nature  appearing  in  his  carriage,  there  he  must  be 
persuaded  or  shamed  out  of  it. 

[Forwardness  to  talk,  frequent  interruptions  in  argu- 
ing, and  loud  wrangling,  are  too  often  observable  amongst 
grown  people  even  of  rank  amongst  us.  .  .  .  Was  it  not, 
think  you,  an  entertaining  spectacle,  to  see  two  ladies  of 
quality  accidentally  seated  on  the  opposite  sides  of  a 
room,  set  round  with  company,  fall  into  a  dispute,  and 
grow  so  eager  in  it,  that  in  the  heat  of  their  controversy, 
edging  by  degrees  their  chairs  forwards,  they  were  in  a 
little  time  got  up  close  to  one  another  in  the  middle  of 
the  room  ;  where  they  for  a  good  while  managed  the 
dispute  as  fiercely  as  two  game-cocks  in  the  pit,  without 
minding  or  taking  any  notice  of  the  circle,  which  could 
not  all  the  while  forbear  smiling  ?  This  I  was  told  by  a 
person  of  quality,  who  was  present  at  the  combat,  and 
did  not  omit  to  reflect  upon  the  indecencies  that  warmth 
in  dispute  often  runs  people  into  ;  which,  since  custom 
makes  too  frequent,  education  should  take  the  more 
care  of.] 

146.  Company. — This  that  I  have  said  here,  if  it  were 
reflected  on,  would  4)erhaps  lead  us  a  little  farther,  and 
let  us  see  of  what  influence  company  is.  'Tis  not  the 
modes  of  civility  alone  that  are  imprinted  by  conversa- 
tion ;2  the  tincture  of  company  sinks  deeper  than  the 
outside^;  and  possibly,  if  a  true  estimate  were  made  of  the 
fnofality  and  religions  of  the  world,  we  should  find  that  the 
far  greater  part  of  mankind  received  even  those  opinions 
and  ceremonies  they  would  die  for,  rather  from  the 
fashions  of  their  countries,  and  the  constant  practice  of 
those  about   them,   than  from  any  conviction  of  their 

^  I.e.,  exacting.  *  Intercourse. 

b 


114  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

reasons.  I  mention  this  only  to  let  you  see  of  what 
moment  I  think  company  is  to  your  son  in  all  the  parts 
of  his  life,  and  therefore  how  much  that  one  part  is  to  be 
weighed  and  provided  for,  it  being  of  greater  force  to  work 
upon  him  than  all  you  can  do  besides.^ 

147.  Learning. — You  will  wonder,  perhaps,  that  I  put 
learning  last,  especially  if  I  tell  you  I  think  it  the  leas^ 
j^Sijct.  This  will  seem  strange  in  the  mouth  of  a  bookish 
man  :  and  this  making  usually  the  chief,  if  not  only  bustle 
and  stir  about  children,  this  being  almost  that  alone, 
which  is  thought  on,  when  people  talk  of  education,  makes 
it  the  greater  paradox.  When  I  consider  what  a-do  is 
made  about  a  little  Latin  and  Greek,  how  many  years  are 
spent  in  it,  and  what  a  noise  and  business  it  makes  to  no 
purpose,  I  can  hardly  forbear  thinking  that  the  parents 
of  children  still  live  in  fear  of  the  school-master's  rod, 
I  which  they  look  on  as  the  only  instrument  of  education ; 
as  a  language  or  two  to  be  its  whole  business.  How  else 
is  it  possible,  that  a  child  should  be  chained  to  the  oar 
seven,  eight,  or  ten  of  the  best  years  of  his  life,  to  get  a 
language  or  two,  which  I  think  might  be  had  at  a  great 
deal  cheaper  rate  of  pains  and  time,  and  be  learned  almost 
in  playing  ?^ 

Forgive  me  therefore,  if  I  say,  I  cannot  with  patience 
think,  that  a  young  gentleman  should  be  put  into  the 
herd;  and  be  driven  with  a  whip  and  scourge,  as  if  he  were 
to  run  the  gauntlet  through  the  several  classes,  "  ad 
capiendum  ingenii  cultum."^  "What  then,"  say  you, 
"  would  you  not  have  him  write  a»d  read  ?  Shall  he 
be  more  ignorant  than  the  clerk  of  our  parish,  who  takes 
Hopkins  and  Sternhold^  for  the  best  poets  in  the  world, 
whom  yet  he  makes  worse  than  they  are  by  his  ill  reading  ?" 

1  See  sees.  67,  68. 

2  "  We  do  amiss  to  spend  seven  or  eight  years  merely  in  scraping 
together  so  much  miserable  Latin  and  Greek  as  might  be  learnt 
otherwise  easily  and  delightfully  in  one  year." — Milton,  Of  Educa- 
tion (1644).  — 

3  "  In  order  to  acquire  an  education  of  his  natural  ability." 

*  The  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms,  by  Thos.  Sternhold  and 
John  Hopkins,  first  published  temp.  Ed.  VI. 


147.  LEARNING— 148.  READING  115 

Not  so,  not  so  fast,  I  beseech  you.     Ee>ding,  and  writing, 
and  learning,  I  allow  to  be  necessary,  bui  yet  npt  the 
chief  business.     I  imagine  you  would  think  him  a  very 
foolish  fellow,  that  should  not  value  a  virtuous  or  a  wise 
man  infinitely  before  a  great  scholar.     Not  but  that  I 
think  learning  a   great   help   to   both,   in  well-disposed 
minds  ;  but  yet  it  must  be  confessed  also,  that  in  others 
not  so  disposed,  it  helps  them  only  to  be  the  more  foolish 
or  worse  men.     I  say  this,  that,  when  you  consider  of 
the  breeding  of  your  son,  and  are  looking  out  for  a  school- 
master, or  a  tutor,  you  would  not  have  (as  is  usual)  Latin 
and  logic  only  in  your  thoughts.     Learning  must  be  had, 
but  in ,  the-  seeend-^ilace^  as  subservient  only  to  greater 
qualities.     Seek    out    somebody  That    may    know    how 
discreetly  to  frame  his  manners  ;   place  him  in  hands 
where  you  may,  as  much  as  possible,  secure  his  innocence, 
cherish  and  nurse  up  the  good,  and  gently  correct  and   k      / 
weed  out  any  bad  inclinations,  and  settle  in  him  good    w    r 
habits.     This  is  the  main  point  ;  and  this  being  provided 
for,  learning  may  be  had  into  the  bargain,  and  that,  as  I 
think,   at  a  very  easy  rate,   by  methods  that  may  be 
thought  on. 

148.  Beading. — When  he  can  talk,  'tis  time  he  should 
JTegin  to  learn  to  read.  But  as  to  this,  give  me  leave  here 
to  inculcate  again  what  is  very  apt  to  be  forgotten,  viz. 
that  a  great  care  is  to  be  taken  that  it  be  never  made  as 
a  business  to  him,  nor  he  look  on  it  as  a  task.^  We 
naturally,  as  I  said,  even  from  our  cradles,  love  liberty, 
and  have  therefore  an  aversion  to  many  things  for  no 
other  reason  but  because  they  are  enjoined  us.  I 
have  always  had  a  fancy  that  learning  might  be  made  a 
play  and  recreation  to  children  ;  and  that  they  might 
be  brought  to  desire  to  be  taught,  if  it  were  proposed  to 
them  as  a  thing  of  honour,  credit,  delight,  and  recreation, 
or  as  a  reward  for  doing  something  else,  and  if  they  were 
never  chid  or  corrected  for  the  neglect  of  it.  That  wliich 
confirms  me  in  this  opinion,  is,  that  amongst  the  Portu- 

1  See  sees.  73-76,  103,  128-129,  167,  202.  The  opinion  is  most 
emphatically  stated  in  sec.  49. 


116  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

gueses,  'tis  so  much  a  fashion  and  emulation  amongst 
their  children  to  learn  to  read  and  write,  that  they  cannot 
hinder  them  from  it :  they  will  learn  it  one  from  another 
and  are  as  intent  on  it  as  if  it  were  forbid  them.  I  re- 
member, that  being  at  a  friend's  house,  whose  younger 
son,  a  child  in  coats,  was  not  easily  brought  to  his  book 
(being  taught  to  read  at  home  by  his  mother)  I  advised 
to  try  another  way  than  requiring  it  of  him  as  his  duty. 
We  therefore,  in  a  discourse  on  purpose  amongst  ourselves 
in  his  hearing,  but  without  taking  any  notice  of  him, 
declared,  that  it  was  the  privilege  and  advantage  of  heirs 
and  elder  brothers  to  be  scholars;^  that  this  made  them 
fine  gentlemen  and  beloved  by  everybody  :  and  that  for 
younger  brothers,  it  was  a  favour  to  admit  them  to  breed- 
ing ;  to  be  taught  to  read  and  write  was  more  than  came 
to  their  share  ;  they  might  be  ignorant  bumpkins  and 
clowns,  if  they  pleased.  This  so  wrought  upon  the  child, 
that  afterwards  he  desired  to  be  taught ;  would  come 
himself  to  his  mother  to  learn  :  and  would  not  let  his  maid 
be  quiet,  till  she  heard  him  his  lesson.  I  doubt  not  but 
some  way  like  this  might  be  taken  with  other  children ; 
and,  when  their  tempers  are  found,  some  thoughts  be 

I  instilled  into  them,  that  might  set  them  upon  desiring 
of  learning  themselves,  and  make  them  seek  it,  as  another 
sort  of  play  or  recreation.     But  then,  as  I  said  before,  it 
,  must  never  be  imposed  as  a  task,  nor  made  a  trouble  to 
them.     There  may   be   dice  and  play-things,   with   the 
letters  on  them,  to  teach  children  the  alphabet  by  playing  ; 
^  I  and  twenty  other  ways  may  be  found,  suitable  to  their 
particular  tempers,  to  make  this  kind  of  learning  a  sport 
,  to  them. 

149.  Thus  children  may  be  cozened  into  a  knowledge 
of  the  letters  ;  be  taught  to  read,  without  perceiving  it 
to  be  anything  but  a  sport,  and  play  themselves  into  that 
others  are  whipped  for.  Children  should  not  have  any- 
thing like  work,  or  serious,  laid  on  them  ;  neither  their 

^  A  deliberate  perversion  of  an  opinion  which  was  current  in 
Locke's  day,  when  "  heirs  and  elder  brothers  "  were  often  thought 
to  be  above  the  necessity  of  learning. 


149,  160,  151.  READING  117 

minds  nor  bodies  will  bear  it.  It  injures  their  healths  ; 
and  their  being  forced  and  tied  down  to  their  books,  in 
an  age  at  enmity  with  all  such  restraint,  has,  I  doubt  not, 
been  the  reason  why  a  great  many  have  hated  books  and 
learning  all  their  lives  after  :  it  is  like  a  surfeit,  that  leaves 
an  aversion  behind,  not  to  be  removed.  ^ 

150.^  I  have  therefore  thought,  that  if  playthings^  ' 
werefitted  to  this  pnrpose.  as  they  are  usually  to  iKme, 
contrivances  might  be  made  to  teach  children  to  read, 
'  whilst  they  thought  they  were  only  playing,  For 
example ;  WhaOTan  ivory- ball  were  made  like  that  of 
the  Royal-Oak  lottery,^  with  thirty-two  sides,  or  one 
rather  of  twenty-four  or  twenty-five  sides  ;  and  upon 
several  of  those  sides  pasted  on  an  A,  upon  several  others 
B,  on  others  C,  and  on  others  D  ?  I  would  have  you  begin 
with  but  these  four  letters,  or  perhaps  only  two  at  first ; 
and  when  he  is  perfect  in  them,  then  add  another  ;  and  so 
on,  till  each  side  having  one  letter,  there  be  on  it  the 
whole  alphabet.  This  I  would  have  others  play  with 
before  him,  it  being  as  good  a  sort  of  play  to  lay  a  stake 
who  shall  first  throw  an  A  or  B,  as  who  upon  dice  shall 
throw  six  or  seven.  This  being  a  play  amongst  you, 
tempt  him  not  to  it,  lest  you  make  it  business  ;  for  I 
would  not  have  him  understand  it  is  anything  but  a  play 
of  older  people,  and  I  doubt  not  but  he  will  take  to  it  of 
himself.  And  that  he  may  have  the  more  reason  to  think 
it  is  a  play,  that  he  is  sometimes  in  favour  admitted  to, 
when  the  play  is  done,  the  ball  should  be  laid  up  safe  out 
of  his  reach,  that  so  it  may  not,  by  his  having  it  in  his  | 
keeping  at  any  time,  grow  stale  to  him. 

151."*  To  keep  up  his  eagerness  to  it,  let  him  think  it  a 
game  belonging  to  those  above  him  ;  and  when  by  this 
means   he   knows   the  letters,    by   changing   them  into 

1  Sec.  143  in  first  edition.  2  g^e  gee.  130. 

3  Possibly,  a  kind  of  round  game  at  cards,  prizes  or  stakes  going 
to  the  holders  of  cards  indicated  by  the  "  throw  "  of  the  "  lottery- 
ball,"  a  polyhedron  with  numbers  marked  on  its  faces,  and  used  as 
dice. 

*  Sec.  143  in  first  edition. 


118  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

syllables,  he  may  learn  to  read,  without  knowing  how  he 
did  so,  and  never  have  any  chiding  or  trouble  about  it, 
nor  fall  out  with  books,  because  of  the  hard  usage  and 
vexation  they  have  caused  him.  Children,  if  you  observe 
them,  take  abundance  of  pains  to  learn  several  games, 
which,  if  they  should  be  enjoined  them,  they  would  abhor 
as  a  task  and  business.  I  know  a  person  of  great  quality 
(more  yet  to  be  honoured  for  his  learning  and  virtue  than 
for  his  rank  and  high  place)  who,  by  pasting  on  the  six 
vowels  (for  in  our  language  Y  is  one)  on  the  six  sides  of  a 
die,  and  the  remaining  eighteen  consonants  on  the  sides 
of  three  other  dice,  has  made  this  a  play  for  his  children, 
that  he  shall  win,  who,  at  one  cast,  throws  most  words  on 
these  four  dice ;  whereby  his  eldest  son,  yet  in  coats,^  has 
played  himself  into  spelling,  with  great  eagerness,  and 
without  once  having  been  chid  for  it,  or  forced  to  it. 

152.^  I  have  seen  little  girls  exercise  whole  hours 
together,  and  take  abundance  of  pains  to  be  expert  at 
dibstones,^  as  they  call  it.  Whilst  I  have  been  looking 
on,  I  have  thought  it  wanted  only  some  good  contrivance 
to  make  them  employ  all  that  industry  about  something 
that  might  be  more  useful  to  them  ;  and  methinks  it  is 
only  the  fault  and  neghgence  of  elder  people  that  it  is  not 
so.  Children  are  much  less  apt  to  be  idle  than  men  :  "and 
men  are  to  be  blamed,  if  some  part  of  that  busy  humour 
be  not  turned  to  useful  things  ;  which  might  be  made 
usually  as  delightful  to  them  as  those  they  are  employed 
in,  if  men  would  be  but  half  so  forward  to  lead  the  way  as 
these  little  apes  would  be  to  follow.  I  imagine  some  wise 
Portuguese  heretofore  began  this  fashion  amongst  the 
children  of  his  country,  where  I  have  been  told,  as  I  said,'' 
it  is  impossible  to  hinder  the  children  from  learning  to 

^  Not  old  enough  to  be  breeched. 

^  Sec.  144  in  first  edition. 

3  "  Tossing  pebbles.  A  child's  game  "  (T.  Wright,  Dictionary  of 
Obsolete  and  Provincial  English).  London  children  still  play  the 
game  in  the  streets,  using  a  ball  and  four  pebbles,  and  keeping  one 
of  the  five  objects  in  the  air  while  moving  one  of  the  others  on  the 
ground. 

<  Sec.  148. 


153,  154,  155,  156.  READING  119 

read  and  write  :  and  in  some  parts  of  France  they  teach 
one  another  to  sing  and  dance  from  the  cradle. 

153.  The  letters  pasted  upon  the  sides  of  the  dice,  or 
polygon,  were  best  to  be  of  the  size  of  those  of  the  folio 
Bible  to  begin  with,  and  none  of  them  capital  letters  ; 
when  once  he  can  read  what  is  printed  in  such  letters,  he 
will  not  long  be  ignorant  of  the  great  ones  :  and  in  the 
beginning  he  should  not  be  perplexed  with  variety.  With 
this  die  also,  you  might  have  a  play  just  like  the  Royal- 
Oak,  which  would  be  another  variety ;  and  play  for 
cherries,  or  apples,  etc. 

154.  Besides  these,  twenty  other  plays  might  be  in- 
vented, depending  on  letters,  which  those,  who  like  this 
way,  may  easily  contrive,  and  get  made  to  this  use.  if  they 
will.  But  the  four  dice  above-mentioned  I  think  so  easy 
and  useful,  that  it  will  be  hard  to  find  any  better,  and 
there  will  be  scarce  need  of  any  other. 

155.  Thus  much  for  learning  to  read,  which  let  him 
never  be  driven  to,  nor  chid  for  ;  cheat  him  into  it  if  you 
can,  but  make  it  not  a  business  for  him.  'Tis  better.it  be 
a  year  later  before  he  can  read,  than  that  he  should  this 
way  get  an  aversion  to  learning.  If  you  have  any  con- 
tests with  him,  let  it  be  in  matters  of  moment,  of  truth, 
and  good-nature  ;  but  lay  no  task  on  him  about  ABC. 
Use  your  skill  to  make  his  will  supple  and  pliant  to  reason  : 
teach  him  to  love  credit  and  commendation  ;  to  abhor 
being  thought  ill  or  meanly  of,  especially  by  you  and  his 
mother  ;  and  then  the  rest  will  come  all  easily.  But,  I 
think,  if  you  will  do  that,  you  must  not  shackle  and  tie 
him  up  with  rules  about  indifferent  matters,  nor  rebuke  him 
for  every  little  fault,  or  perhaps  some  that  to  others  would 
seem  great  ones.     But  of  this  I  have  said  enough  already. 

156.  When  by  these  gentle  ways  he  begins  to  be  able 
to  read,  some  easy,  pleasant  book,  suited  to  his  capacity, 
should  be  put  into  his  hands,  wherein  the  entertainment 
that  he  finds  might  draw  him  on,  and  reward  his  pains 
in  reading ;  and  yet  not  such  as  should  fill  his  head  with 
perfectly  useless  trumpery,  or  lay  the  principles  of  vice 
and  folly.     To  this  purpose  I  think  ^Esop's  Fables  the 


120  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

best,  which  being  stories  apt  to  delight  and  entertain  a 
child,  may  yet  afford  useful  reflections  to  a  grown  man  ; 
and  if  his  memory  retain  them  all  his  life  after,  he  will  not 
repent  to  find  them  there,  amongst  his  manly  thoughts 
and  serious  business.  If  his  ^Esop  has  pictures  in  it^  it 
will  entertain  him  much  the  better,  and  encourage  him  to 
read  when  it  carries  the  increase  of  knowledge  with  it : 
for  such  visible  objects  children  hear  talked  of  in  vain, 
and  without  any  satisfaction,  whilst  they  have  no  ideas 
of  them  ;  those  ideas  being  not  to  be  had  from  sounds, 
but  from  the  things  themselves,^  or  their  pictures.  And 
therefore,  I  think,  as  soon  as  he  begins  to  spell,  as  many 
pictures  of  animals  should  be  got  him  as  can  be  found, 
with  the  printed  names  to  them,  which  at  the  same  time 
will  invite  him  to  read,  and  afford  him  matter  of  inquiry 
and  knowledge.  Eeynard  the  Fox  is  another  book,  I 
think,  that  may  be  made  use  of  to  the  same  purpose. 
And  if  those  about  him  will  talk  to  him  often  about  the 
stories  he  has  read,  and  hear  him  tell  them,  it  will,  besides 
other  advantages,  add  encouragement  and  delight  to  his 
reading,  when  he  finds  there  is  some  use  and  pleasure  in  it, 
which  in  the  ordinary  method,  I  think,  learners  do  not 
till  late  ;  and  so  take  books  only  for  fashionable  amuse- 
ments, or  impertinent  troubles,  good  for  nothing. 

157.  The  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Creeds,  and  Ten  Com- 
mandments, 'tis  necessary  he  should  learn  perfectly  bx 
heart  ;  but,  I  think,  not  by  reading  them  himself  in  his 
primer,  but  by  somebody's  repeating  them  to  him,  even 
before  he  can  read.  But  learning  by  heart,  and  learning 
to  read,  should  not,  I  think,  be  mixed,  and  so  one  made 
to  clog  the  other.  But  his  learning  to  read  should  be  made 
as  little  trouble  or  business  to  him  as  might  be. 

^  Derived  directly  from  Locke's  experiential  psychology,  the 
principle  here  implied  assumed  the  highest  importance  in  the 
theories  of  Rousseau  and  of  Pestalozzi.  The  ninth  letter  of  Pesta- 
lozzi's  Hoio  Gertrude  teaches  her  Children  (1801)  begins  thus:  "If 
I  look  back  and  ask  mj^self  what  have  I  personally  accomplished 
for  human  instruction,  I  discover  this:  In  recognizing  Intuition 
(Anschauung)  as  the  absolute  basis  of  all  knowledge,  I  have  estab- 
lished the  highest  principle  of  instruction."     Cf.  sec.  166. 


157,  158.  BEADING  121 

What  other  books  there  are  in  English  of  the  kind  of 
those  above-mentioned,  fit  to  engage  the  Hking  of  children, 
and  tempt  them  to  read,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  am  apt  to 
think  that  children,  being  generally  delivered  over  to  the 
method  of  schools,  where  the  fear  of  the  rod  is  to  enforce, 
and  not  any  pleasure  of  the  employment  to  invite,  them 
to  learn  ;  this  sort  of  useful  books,  amongst  the  number 
of  silly  ones  that  are  of  all  sorts,  have  yet  had  the  fate  to 
be  neglected  ;  and  nothing  that  I  know  has  been  con- 
sidered of  this  kind  out  of  the  ordinary  road  of  the  horn- 
book, primer,  psalter,  Testament,  and  Bible.^ 

158.  As  for  the  Bible,  which  children  are  usually  em- 
ployed in  to  exercise  and  improve  their  talent  in  reading, 
I  think,  the  promiscuous  reading  of  it  through  by  chapters 
as  they  lie  in  order,  is  so  far  from  being  of  any  advantage 
to  children,  either  for  the  perfecting  their  reading  or 
principling  their  religion,  that  perhaps  a  worse  could  not 
be  found.  For  what  pleasure  or  encouragement  can  it  be 
to  a  child,  to  exercise  himself  in  reading  those  parts  of  a 
book  where  he  understands  nothing  ?  And  how  little  are 
the  law  of  Moses,  the  Song  of  Solomon,  the  prophecies  in 
the  Old,  and  the  Epistles  and  Apocalypse  in  the  New 
Testament,  suited  to  a  child's  capacity  ?  And  though 
the  history  of  the  Evangelists  and  the  Acts  have  some- 
thing easier  ;  yet,  taken  all  together,  it  is  very  dispropor- 
tionate to  the  understanding  of  childhood.  I  grant,  that 
the 'principles  of  rehgion  are  to  be  drawn  from  thence,  and 
in  the  words  of  the  Scripture  ;  yet  none  should  be  proposed 
to  a  child  but  such  as  are  suited  to  a  child's  capacity  and 
notions.  But  it  is  far  from  this  to  read  through  the  whole 
Bible,  and  that  for  reading's  sake.  And  what  an  odd 
jumble  of  thoughts  must  a  child  have  in  his  head,  i,f  he 
have  any  at  all,  such  as  he  should  have  concerning  religion, 

^  The  books  from  which  children  usually  learned  to  read  the 
vernacular  at  home,  following  ancient  tradition ;  within  living 
memory,  the  Bible  was  used  for  this  purpose  in  certain  elementary 
schools.  The  hornbook  and  primer  contained  the  alphabet, 
syllables,  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  Creed  ;  the  former  got  its  name 
from  the  thin  horn  plate  used  to  protect  the  printed  page  from  the 
reader's  finger.     See  Mrs.  E.  M.  Field's  The  Child  an  d  His  Book. 


122  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

who  in  his  tender  age  reads  all  the  parts  of  the  Bible 
indifferently,  as  the  word  of  God,  without  any  other 
distinction  !  I  am  apt  to  think  that  this,  in  some  men, 
has  been  the  very  reason  why  they  never  had  clear  and 
distinct  thoughts  of  it  all  their  lifetime. 

159.  And  now  I  am  by  chance  fallen  on  this  subject, 
give  me  leave  to  say,  that  there  are  some  parts_of^the 
Scripture  whichjnay_be_proper  to  be  put  into  tbp^Fia,nH's 
of  a  child  to  engage_hinx-to_read4  such  as  are  the  story  of 
Joseph  andhis  brethren,  of  David  and  Goliath,  of  David 
and  Jonathan,  etc.,  and  others,  that  he  should  be  made 
to  read  for  his  instruction  ;  as  that,  "  What  you  would 
have  others  do  unto  you,  do  you  the  same  unto  them  ;" 
--^  and  such  other  easy  and  plain  moral  rules,  which,  being 
fitly  chosen,  might  often  be  made  use  of,  both  for  reading 
and  instruction  together.  But  the  reading  of  the  whole 
Scripture  indifferently  is  what  I  think  very  inconvenient 
for  children,  till,  after  having  been  made  acquainted  with 
the  plainest  fundamental  parts  of  it,  they  have  got  some 
kind  of  general  view  of  what  they  ought  principally  to 
believe  and  practice,  which  yet,  I  think,  they  ought  to 
receive  in  the  very  words  of  the  Scripture,  and  not  in  such, 
as  men  prepossessed  by  systems  and  analogies,  are  apt 
in  this  case  to  make  use  of,  and  force  upon  them.  Dr. 
Worthington,.^  to  avoid  this,  has  made  a  catechism  which 
has  all  its  answers  in  the  precise  words  of  the  Scripture, 
a  thing  of  good  example  and  such  a  sound  form  of  words, 
as  no  Christian  can  except  against  as  not  fit  for  his  child 
to  learn.  Of  this,  as  soon  as  he  can  say  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
Creed,  and  Ten  Commandments  by  heart,  it  may  be  fit 
for  him  to  learn  a  question  every  day,  or  every  week,  as 
his  understanding  is  able  to  receive  and  his  memory  to 
retain  them.     And  when  he  has  this  catechism  perfectly 

^  John  Worthington  (1618-1671),  Master  of  Jesus  College,  Cam- 
bridge, one  of  Hartlib's  correspondents.  His  book,  A  form  of  sound 
words,  or  a  scripture  catechism,  shewing  what  a  Christian  is  to  believe 
ar.d  practise  in  order  to  salvation  :  very  useful  to  persons  of  all  ages 
ard  capacities  as  well  as  children,  was  published  posthumously  in 
1€73,  ard  vas  still  appearirg  in  1755.  It  is  a  primer  of  theology, 
very  ur suitable  to  children  in  form  and  matter. 


160.  WEITING  123 

by  heart,  so  as  readily  and  roundly  to  answer  to  any 
question  in  the  whole  book,  it  may  be  convenient  to 
lodge  in  his  mind  the  moral  rules,  scattered  up  and  down 
in  the  Bible,  as  the  best  exercise  of  his  memory,  and  that 
which  may  be  always  a  rule  to  him,  ready  at  hand,  in  the 
whole  conduct  of  his  life.^ 

160.  Writing. — When  he  can  read  English  well,  it  will 
be  seasonable  to  enter  hmi  m  writm"g^  And  here  the  first 
thing  should  be  taught  him  is,  to  hold  his  pen  right  ;  an^" 
this  he  should  be  perfect  in,  before  he  should  be  suffered 
to  put  it  to  paper  :  for  not  only  children,  but  anybody  else, 
that  would  do  anything  well,  should  never  be  put  upon 
too  much  of  it  at  once,  or  be  set  to  perfect  themselves  in 
two  parts  of  an  action  at  the  same  time,  if  they  can 
possibly  be  separated.  When  he  has  learned  to  hold  his 
pen  right,  (to  hold  it  betwixt  the  thumb  and  forefinger 
alone,  I  think  best  ;  but  on  this  you  should  consult  some 
good  writing-master,  or  any  other  person  who  writes  well 
and  quick)  then  next  he  should  learn  how  to  lav  his  paper j 
and  place  his  arm  and  body  to  it.  These  practices  being 
got  over,  the  way  to  teach  him  to  write  without  much 
trouble,  is  to  get  a  plate  graved  with  the  characters  of 
such  a  hand  as  you  like  best :  but  you  must  remember  to 
have  them  a  pretty  deal  bigger  than  he  should  ordinarily 
write  ;  for  every  one  naturally  comes  by  degrees  to  write 
a  less  hand  than  he  at  first  was  taught,  but  never  a 
bigger.  Buch  a  plate  being  graved,  let  several  sheets  of 
•good  writing-paper  be  printed  off  with  red  ink,  which 
he  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  go  over  with  a  good  pen  filled 
with  black  ink,  which  will  quickly  bring  his  hand  to  the 
formation  of  those  characters,  being  at  first  showed  where 
to  begin,  and  how  to  form  every  letter.  And  when  he 
can  do  that  well,  he  must  then  exercise  on  fair  paper  ; 
and  so  may  easily  be  brought  to  write  the  hand  you  desire. 

^  These  concrete  directions  for  religious  instruction  do  not  follow 
the  principles  enunciated  in  section  136  ;  yet  in  both  places  religion 
is  presented  rather  as  a  philosophy  than  as  a  life  to  be  lived.  During 
childhood  at  least  the  latter  is  the  more  necessary  standpoint  for 
the  educator. 


124  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

161.  Drawing. — When  he  can  write  well,  and  quick,  I 
think  it  may  be  convenient,  not  only  to  continue  the 
exercise  of  his  hand  in  writing,  but  also  to  iihprove  the  use 
of  it  farther  in  drawing,  a.  thing  very  useful  to  a  gentleman 
on  several  occasions,  but  especially  if  he  travel,  as  that 
which  helps  a  man  often  to  express,  in  a  few  lines  well  put 
together,  what  a  whole  sheet  of  paper  in  writing  would  not 
be  able  to  represent  and  make  intelligible.  How  many 
buildings  may  a  man  see,  how  many  machines  and  habits 
meet  with,  the  ideas  whereof  would  be  easily  retained  and 
communicated  by  a  little  skill  in  drawing  ;  which  being 
committed  to  words,  are  in  danger  to  be  lost,  or  at  best 
but  ill  retained  in  the  most  exact  descriptions  ?  I  do  not 
mean  that  I  would  have  your  son  a  perfect  painter  ;  to  be 
that  to  any  tolerable  degree,  will  require  more  time  than 
a  young  gentleman  can  spare  from  his  other  improvements 
of  greater  importance  ;  but  so  much  insight  into  per- 
spective, and  skill  in  drawing,  as  will  enable  him  to 
represent  tolerably  on  paper  any  thing  he  sees,  except 
faces,  may,  I  think,  be  got  in  a  little  time,  especially  if  he 
have  a  genius  to  it :  but  where  that  is  wanting,  unless  it 
be  in  the  things  absolutely  necessary,  it  is  better  to  let 
him  pass  them  by  quietly,  than  to  vex  him  about  them  to 
no  purpose  :  and  therefore  in  this,  as  in  all  other  things 
not  absolutely  necessary,  the  rule  holds,  "  Nihil  invitd 
Minerva."^ 

[^  1.  Short-hand,  an  art,  as  I  have  been  told,  known 
only  in  England,  may  perhaps  be  thought  worth  the 
learning,  both  for  despatch  in  what  men  write  for  their 
own  memory,  and  concealment  of  what  they  would  not 
have  lie  open  to  every  eye.  .  .  .  Mr.  Eich's,^  the  best 
contrived  of  any  I  have  seen,  may,  as  I  think,  by  one  who 
knows  and  considers  grammar  well,  be  made  much  easier 
and  shorter.] 

162.  French. — Assoon  as  he_can_speak  English,  it^ja. 
time  for  him  to  learn  some  other  lajiguagaj-lhia-jio5ody 

^oubts'of,  when  French  is  proposed.     And  the  reasoi  :s 

^  Nothing  contrary  to  inborn  capacftyT 
2  Jeremiah  Rich  .fl.  temp.  Commonwealth. 


162.  FRENCH— 163.  LATIN  125 

because  people  are  accustomed  to  the  right  way  of  teach- 
ing  that  language,  which  is  by  talking  it  into  children  in 
"constant  conveiaatioJV  and  not  by  grammatical  fule^. 
"The  Latin  tongue  would  easily  be  taught  the  same  way, 
if  his  tutor,  being  constantly  with  him,  would  talk  nothing 
else  to  him,  and  make  him  answer  still  in  the  same  lan- 
guage.^ But  because  Fpach  is  a  living  language,  and  to 
be  used  more  in  speaking,  that  should  be  first  learned, 
that  the  yet  pliant  organs  of  speech  might  be  accustomed 
to  a  due  formation  of  these  sounds,  and  he  get  the  habit 
of  pronouncing  French  well,  which  is  the  harder  to  be 
done  the  longer  it  is  delayed. 

163.  Latin. — When  he  can  speak  and  read  French  well, 
which  in  this  method  is  usually  in  a  year  or  two,  he  should 
proceed  to  Latin,  which  'tis  a  wonder  parents,  when  they 
have  had  the  experiment  in  French,  should  not  think 
ought  to  be  learned  the  same  way  by  talking  and  reading. 
Only  care  is  to  be  taken,  whilst  he  is  learning  these  foreign 
languages,  by  speaking  and  reading  nothing  else  to  his- 
tutor,  that  he  do  not  forget  to  read  English,  which  may 
be  preserved  by  his  mother,  or  somebody  else,  hearing  him 
read  some  chosen  parts  of  the  Scripture,  or  other  English 
book,  every  day. 

164.  Latin  I  look  upon  as  absolutely  necessary  to  a 
gentleman ;  and  indeed  custom,  which  prevails  over 
every  thing,  has  made  it  so  much  a  part  of  education,  that 
even  those  children  are  whipped  to  it,  and  made  spend 
many  hours  of  their  precious  time  uneasily  in  Latin,  who, 
after  they  are  once  gone  from  school,  are  never  to  have 
more  to  do  with  it  as  long  as  they  live.  Can  there  be  any- 
thing more  ridiculous  than  that  a  father  should  waste 
his  own  money,  and  his  son's  time,  in  setting  him  to  learn 
the  Roman  language,  when,  at  the  same  time,  he  designs 
him  for  a  trade,  wherein  he,  having  no  use  of  Latin,  fails 

*  Montaigne  (Essais  i.,  chap,  xxv.)  tells  us  that  he  was  taught  to 
speak  by  a  German,  ignorant  of  French,  but  very  well  versed  in 
Latin,  that  he  learned  little  French  till  he  was  six  years  old,  bj' 
which  time,  "  without  art.  book,  grammar,  rule  or  scourge,"  he  had 
learned  a  Latinity  as  pure  as  his  schoolmaster's. 


126  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

not  to  forget  that  little  which  he  brought  from  school,  and 
which  it  is  ten  to  one  he  abhors  for  the  ill  usage  it  pro- 
cured him  ?  ^  Could  it  be  believed,  unless  we  had  every- 
where amongst  us  examples  of  it,  that  a  child  should  be 
forced  to  learn  the  rudiments  of  a  language  which  he  is 
never  to  use  in  the  course  of  life  he  is  designed  to,  and 
neglect  all  the  while  the  writing  a  good  hand,  and  casting 
account[s],  which  are  of  great  advantage  in  all  conditions 
of  life,  and  to  most  trades  indispensably  necessary  ? 
But  though  these  qualifications,  requisite  to  trade  and 
commerce,  and  the  business  of  the  world,  are  seldom  or 
never  to  be  had  at  grammar-schools,  yet  thither  not  only 
gentlemen  send  their  younger  sons,  intended  for  trades, 
but  even  tradesmen  and  farmers  fail  not  to  send  their 
children,  though  they  have  neither  intention  nor  ability 
to  make  them  scholars.  If  you  ask  them,  why  they  do 
this,  they  think  it  as  strange  a  question,  as  if  you  should 
ask  them,  why  they  go  to  church.  Custom  serves  for 
reason,  and  has,  to  those  that  take  it  for  reason,  so  con- 
secrated this  method,  that  it  is  almost  religiously  observed 
by  them  ;  and  they  stick  to  it,  as  if  their  children  had 
scarce  an  orthodox  education  unless  they  learned  Lily's 
grammar.^ 

165.^  But  how  necessary  soever  Latin  be  to  some,  and 
is  thought  to  be  to  others,  to  whom  it  is  of  no  manner  of 
use  or  service,  yet  the  ordinary  way  of  learning  it  in  a 
grammar-school,  is  that,  which  having  had  thoughts 
about,  I  cannot  be  forward  to  encourage.  The  reasons 
against  it  are  so  evident  and  cogent,  that  they  have  pre- 
vailed with  some  intelligent  persons  to  quit  the  ordinary 
road,  not  without  success,  though  the  method  made  use 
of  was  not  exactly  that  which  I  imagine  the  easiest,  and  in 

^  Locke's  objection  is  not  that  Latin  is  useless  (c/.  sec.  186),  but 
that  the  pupils  in  question  get  a  merely  truncated  instruction. 

2  William  Lily,  first  High  Master  of  St.  Paul's  School  (1512-1522). 
For  some  three  centuries  and  a  half,  the  Latin  grammar  associated 
with  his  name  was  regarded  as  the  standard  school-book.  For  its 
history  see  Foster  Watson,  The  English  Orammar  Schools,  chaps. 
XV.,  xvi. 

3  Sec.  157  in  first  edition. 


165,  166.  LATIN  127 

short  is  this  :  to  trouble  the  child  with  no  grammar  at  all, 
but  to  have  Latin,  as  English  has  been,  without  the  per- 
plexity of  rules,  talked  into  him  ;  for,  if  you  will  consider 
it,  Latin  is  no  more  unknown  to  a  child,  when  he  comes 
into  the  world,  than  English  :  and  yet  he  learns  English 
without  master,  rule,  or  grammar ;  and  so  might  he 
Latin  too,  as  Tully  did,  if  he  had  somebody  always  to  talk 
to  him  in  this  language.  And  when  we  so  often  see  a 
French  woman  teach  an  English  girl  to  speak  and  read 
French  perfectly  in  a  year  or  two,  without  any  rule  of 
grammar,  or  anything  else,  but  prattling  to  her,  I  cannot 
but  wonder,  how  gentlemen  have  overseen^  this  way  for 
their  sons,  and  thought  them  more  dull  or  incapable  than 
their  daughters. 

•^  166.^  If  therefore  a  man  could  be  got,  who  himseli 
speaks  good  Latin,  who  would  be  always  about  your  son 
and  talk  constantly  to  him  and  make  him  read  Latin,"^ 
that  would  be  the  true,  genuine  and  easy  way  of  teaching 
him  Latin,  and  that  I  could  wish  ;  since  besides  teaching 
him  a  language  without  pains  or  chiding  (which  children 
are  wont  to  be  whipped  for  at  school  six  or  seven  years 
together)  he  might  at  the  same  time  not  only  form  his 
mind  and  manners,  but  instruct  him  also  in  several 
sciences  such  as  are  a  good  part  of  geography,  astronomy, 
chronology,  anatomy,  besides  some  parts  of  history  and 
all  other  parts  of  knowledge  of  things  that  fall  under 
the  senses,  and  require  little  more  than  memory.  For 
there,  if  we  would  take  the  true  way,  our  knowledge 
should  begin  and  in  those  things  be  laid  the  foundation,'* 
and  not  in  the  abstract  notions  of  logic  and  metaphysics, 
which  are  fitter  to  amuse  than  inform  the  understanding 
in  its  first  setting  out  towards  knowledge.  In  which 
abstract  speculations  when  young  men  have  had  their 
heads  employed  a  while,'^  without  finding  the  success  and 
improvement  or  use  of  it  which  they  expected,  they  are 

^  I.e.,  overlooked.  ^  Sec.  157  in  first  edition. 

3  "  And  suffer  him  to  speak  or  read  nothing  else  "   in   later 
editions. 

*  See  note  on  sec.  156.  ^  See  sec.  188. 


128  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

apt  to  have  mean  thoughts  either  of  learning  or  them- 
selves, to  quit  their  studies  and  throw  away  their  books, 
as  containing  nothing  but  hard  words  and  empty  sounds  ; 
or  else  concluding  that  if  there  be  any  real  knowledge 
in  them,  they  themselves  have  not  understandings 
capable  of  it ;  and  that  that  is  so,  perhaps  I  could  assure 
you  upon  my  own  experience.  Amongst  other  things 
to  be  learned  by  a  young  man  in  this  method,  whilst 
others  of  his  age  are  wholly  taken  up  with  Latin  and 
languages,  I  may  also  set  down  geometry  for  one,  having 
known  a  young  gentleman,  bred  something  after  this 
way,  able  to  demonstrate  several  propositions  in  Euclid 
before  he  was  thirteen. 

167.  But  if  such  a  man  cannot  be  got,  who  speaks 
good  Latin,  and  being  able  to  instruct  your  son  in  all 
these  parts  of  knowledge,  will  undertake  it  by  this 
method  ;  the  next  ,bf^st  is  to  have  him  taii^ht  as  near 
this  way  as  may  be,  which  is  by  taking  some  easv  and 
pleasant  book,  such  as  ^sop's  Fables,  and  writing  the  (>} 
Enghsh  translation  (made  as  literal  as  it  can  be)  in  one 
line,  and  the  Latin  words,  which  answer  each  of  them, 
just  oyerji  in  another.  These  let  him  read  every  day 
over  and  over  again,  till  he  perfectly  understands  the 
Latin.  (But  have  a  care  still,  whatever  you  are  teacliing 
him,  of  clogging  him  yith  too  much  at  once,  or  making 
anytliing  his  business  but  down-right  virtue,  or  reproving 
him  for  anything  but  vice.)  And  then  go  on  to  another 
fable,  till  he  be  also  perfect  in  that,  not  omitting  what 
he  is  already  perfect  in,  but  sometimes  reviewing  that, 
to  keep  it  in  his  memory.  And  when  he  comes  to  write, 
let  these  be  set  him  for  copies,  which,  with  the  exercise 
of  his  hand,  will  also  advance  him  in  Latin.  This  being 
a  more  imperfect  way  than  by  talking  Latin  unto  him  ; 
the  formation  of  the  verbs  first,  and  afterwards  the  de- 
clensions of  the  nouns  and  pronouns  perfectly  learned  by 
heart,  may  facilitate  his  acquaintance  with  the  genius 
and  manner  of  the  Latin  tongue,  which  varies  the  significa- 
tion of  verbs  and  nouns,  not  as  the  modern  languages 
do,    by   particles   prefixed,    but    by    changing    the   last 


167.  LATIN  129 

syllables.  More  than  this  of  grammar  I  think  he  need 
not  have,  till  he  can  read  himself  Sanctii  Minerva/  with 
Scioppius  [and  Perizonius's]  notes.^ 

[In  teaching  of  children  this  too,  I  think,  it  is  to  be 
observed,  that  in  most  cases,  where  they  stick,  they  are 
not  to  be  farther  puzzled,  by  putting  them  upon  finding 
it  out  themselves  ;  as  by  asking  such  questions  as  these, 
viz.,  Which  is  the  nominative  case  ?  in  the  sentence  they 
are  to  construe,  or  demanding  what  "  ausero  "  signifies, 
to  lead  them  to  the  knowledge  what  "  abstulere  "  signifies, 
etc.,  when  they  cannot  readily  tell.  This  wastes  time 
only  in  disturbing  them  ;  for  whilst  they  are  learning, 
and  applying  themselves  with  attention,  they  are  to  be 
kept  in  good  humour,  and  everything  made  easy  to  them, 
and  as  pleasant  as  possible.  Therefore,  wherever  they 
are  at  a  stand,  and  are  willing  to  go  forward,  help  them 
presently  over  the  difiiculty,  without  any  rebuke  or 
chiding ;  remembering,  that  where  harsher  ways  are 
taken,  they  are  the  effect  only  of  pride  and  peevishness 
in  the  teacher,  who  expects  children  should  instantly  be 
masters  of  as  much  as  he  knows  :  whereas  he  should 
rather  consider  that  his  business  is  to  settle  in  them 
habits,  not  angrily  to  inculcate  rules,  which  serve  for 
little  in  the  conduct  of  our  lives  ;  at  least  are  of  no  use 
to  children,  who  forget  them  as  soon  as  given.  In 
sciences,  where  their  reason  is  to  be  exercised,  I  will  not 
deny  ]but  this  method  may  sometimes  be  varied,  and 
difl&culties  proposed  on  purpose  to  excite  industry  and 
accustom  the  mind  to  employ  its  own  strength  and 
sagacity  in  reasoning.     But  yet,  I  guess,  this  is  not  to 

^  Minerva,  seu  de  causis  linguce  Latinm  Commentaritis,  published 
first  in  1587,  was  a  celebrated  textbook  which  long  retained  its 
popularity.  Its  author  was  Francesco  Sanchez,  or  Sanctius  (1523- 
1601),  professor  of  Greek  at  Salamanca.  Amended  or  annotated 
editions  were  produced  by  the  German,  Scioppius  (Caspar  Schoppc, 
1576-1649),  and  the  Dutchman,  Perizonius  (Jacob  Voorbroek,  1651- 
1715).  The  fourth  edition  by  the  last  named  appeared  in  1714;  it 
was  a  volume  of  about  one  thousand  pages. 

2  The  remainder  of  the  section  is  later  than  the  first  edition  ;  its 
pedagogical  importance  will  be  appreciated. 

9 


130  THOUGHTS  CONCEENING  EDUCATION 

be  done  to  children  whilst  very  young  ;  nor  at  their 
entrance  upon  any  sort  of  knowledge  :  then  everything 
of  itself  is  difficult,  and  the  great  use  and  skill  of  a  teacher 
is  to  make  all  as  easy  as  he  can.  But  particularly  in 
learning  of  languages  there  is  least  occasion  for  posing  of 
children.  For  languages  being  to  be  learnt  by  rote, 
custom,  and  memory,  are  then  spoken  in  greatest  perfec- 
tion, when  all  rules  of  grammar  are  utterly  forgotten. 
I  grant  the  grammar  of  a  language  is  sometimes  very 
carefully  to  be  studied  :  but  it  is  only  to  be  studied  by 
a  grown  man,  when  he  applies  himself  to  the  understand- 
ing of  any  language  critically,  which  is  seldom  the  business 
of  any  but  professed  scholars.  This,  I  think,  will  be 
agreed  to,  that  if  a  gentleman  be  to  study  any  language, 
it  ought  to  be  that  of  his  own  country,  that  he  may  under- 
stand the  language,  which  he  has  constant  use  of,  with  the 
utmost  accuracy. 

There  is  yet  a  farther  reason  why  masters  and  teachers 
should  raise  no  difficulties  to  their  scholars  ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  should  smooth  their  way  and  readily  help  them 
forwards  where  they  find  them  stop.  Children's  minds 
are  narrow  and  weak,  and  usually  susceptible  but  of  one 
thought  at  once.  Whatever  is  in  a  child's  head,  fills  it 
for  the  time,  especially  if  set  on  with  any  passion.  It 
should  therefore  be  the  skill  and  art  of  the  teacher,  to 
clear  their  heads  of  all  other  thoughts,  whilst  they  are 
learning  of  any  thing,  the  better  to  make  room  for  what 
he  would  instil  into  them,  that  it  may  be  received  with 
attention  and  apphcation,  without  which  it  leaves  no 
impression.  The  natural  temper  of  children  disposes 
their  minds  to  wander.^  Novelty  alone  takes  them ; 
whatever  that  presents,  they  are  presently  eager  to  have 
a  taste  of,  and  are  as  soon  satiated  with  it.  They  quickly 
grow  weary  of  the  same  thing,  and  so  have  almost  their 
whole  delight  in  change  and  variety.  It  is  a  contradic- 
tion to  the  natural  state  of  childhood  for  them  to  fix  their 
fleeting  thoughts.  Whether  this  be  owing  to  the  temper 
of  their  brains,  or  the  quickness  or  instabihty  of  their 
1  Cf.  Conduct,  sec.  30. 


167.  LATIN  131 

animal  spirits,  over  which  the  mind  has  not  yet  got  a 
full  command  ;  this  is  visible,  that  it  is  a  pain  to  children 
to  keep  their  thoughts  steady  to  any  thing.  A  lasting, 
continued  attention  is  one  of  the  hardest  tasks  that  can 
be  imposed  on  them  :  and  therefore,  he  that  requires 
their  application,  should  endeavour  to  make  what  he 
proposes  as  grateful  and  agreeable  as  possible  ;  at  least, 
he  ought  to  take  care  not  to  join  any  displeasing  or 
frightful  idea  with  it.  If  they  come  not  to  their  books 
with  some  kind  of  liking  and  rehsh,  it  is  no  wonder  their 
thoughts  should  be  perpetually  shifting  from  what  dis- 
gusts them,  and  seek  better  entertainment  in  more 
pleasing  objects,  after  which  they  will  unavoidably  be 
gadding. 

It  is,  I  know,  the  usual  method  of  tutors  to  endeavour 
to  procure  attention  in  their  scholars,  and  to  fix  their 
minds  to  the  business  in  hand  by  rebukes  and  corrections, 
if  they  find  them  ever  so  little  wandering.  But  such 
treatment  is  sure  to  produce  the  quite  contrary  effect. 
Passionate  words  or  blows  from  the  tutor,  fill  the  child's 
mind  with  terror  and  affrightment,  which  immediately 
takes  it  wholly  up,  and  leaves  no  room  for  other  im- 
pressions. I  believe  there  is  nobody  that  reads  this, 
but  may  recollect  what  disorder  hasty  or  imperious  words 
from  his  parents  or  teachers  have  caused  in  his  thoughts  ; 
how  for  the  time  it  has  turned  his  brains  so  that  he 
scarce  knew  what  was  said  by  or  to  him  :  he  presently 
lost  the  sight  of  what  he  was  upon ;  his  mind  was  filled 
with  disorder  and  confusion,  and  in  that  state  was  no 
longer  capable  of  attention  to  any  thing  else. 

It  is  true,  parents  and  governors  ought  to  settle  and 
establish  their  authority,  by  an  awe  over  the  minds  of 
those  under  their  tuition  ;  and  to  rule  them  by  that :  but 
when  they  have  got  an  ascendant  over  them,  they  should 
use  it  with  great  moderation,  and  not  make  themselves 
such  scarecrows,  that  their  scholars  should  always  tremble 
in  their  sight.  Such  an  austerity  may  make  their  govern- 
ment easy  to  themselves,  but  of  very  little  use  to  their 
pupils.     It  is  impossible  children  should  learn  any  thing 


132  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

whilst  their  thoughts  are  possessed  and  disturbed  with 
any  passion,  especially  fear,  which  makes  the  strongest 
impression  on  their  yet  tender  and  weak  spirits.  Keep 
the  mind  in  an  easy,  calm  temper,  when  you  would  have 
it  receive  your  instructions,  or  any  increase  of  know- 
ledge. It  is  as  impossible  to  draw  fair  and  regular 
characters  on  a  trembling  mind  as  on  a  shaking  paper. 

The  great  skill  of  a  teacher  is  to  get  and  keep  the  atten- 
tion of  his  scholar :  whilst  he  has  that,  he  is  sure  to  ad- 
vance as  fast  as  the  learner's  abilities  will  carry  him  ; 
and  without  that,  all  his  bustle  and  pother  will  be  to 
little  or  no  purpose.  To  attain  this,  he  should  make  the 
child  comprehend  (as  much  as  may  be)  the  usefulness  of 
what  he  teaches  him  ;  and  let  him  see,  by  what  he  has 
learned,  that  he  can  do  something  which  he  could  not  do 
before,  something  which  gives  him  some  power  and-  real 
advantage  above  others  who  are  ignorant  of  it.  To  this 
he  should  add  sweetness  in  all  his  instructions  ;  and  by 
a  certain  tenderness  in  his  whole  carriage,  make  the  child 
sensible  that  he  loves  him,  and  designs  nothing  but  his 
good  ;  the  only  way  to  beget  love  in  the  child,  which  will 
make  him  hearken  to  his  lessons,  and  rehsh  what  he 
teaches  him. 

Nothing  but  obstinacy  should  meet  with  anyimperious- 
ness  or  rough  usage.  All  other  faults  should  be  corrected 
with  a  gentle  hand  ;  and  kind,  encouraging  words  will 
work  better  and  more  effectually  upon  a  willing  mind, 
and  even  prevent  a  good  deal  of  that  perverseness  which 
rough  and  imperious  usage  often  produces  in  well-dis-. 
posed  and  generous  minds.  It  is  true,  obstinacy  and 
wilful  neglects  must  be  mastered,  even  though  it  cost 
blows  to  do  it :  but  I  am  apt  to  think  perverseness  in 
the  pupils  is  often  the  effect  of  frowardness  in  the  tutor ; 
and  that  most  children  would  seldom  have  deserved 
blows,  if  needless  and  misapplied  roughness  had  not 
taught  them  ill-nature,  and  given  them  an  aversion  to 
their  teacher,  and  all  that  comes  from  him. 

Inadvertency,  forgetfulness,  unsteadiness,  and  wander- 
ing of  thought,  are  the  natural  faults  of  cliildhood ;  and 


167,  168.  LATIN  133 

therefore,  when  they  are  not  observed  to  be  wilful,  are 
to  be  mentioned  softly,  arid  gained  upon  by  time.  If 
every  sHp  of  this  kind  produces  anger  and  rating,  the 
occasions  of  rebuke  and  corrections  will  return  so  often, 
that  the  tutor  will  be  a  constant  terror  and  uneasiness 
to  his  pupils  ;  which  one  thing  is  enough  to  hinder  their 
profiting  by  his  lessons,  and  to  defeat  all  his  methods  of 
instructions. 

Let  the  awe  he  has  got  upon  their  minds  be  so  tempered 
with  the  constant  marks  of  tenderness  and  good- will, 
that  affection  may  spur  them  to  their  duty,  and  make 
them  find  a  pleasure  in  complying  with  his  dictates. 
This  will  bring  them  with  satisfaction  to  their  tutor  ; 
make  them  hearken  to  him,  as  to  one  who  is  their  friend, 
that  cherishes  them,  arid  takes  pains  for  their  good  ; 
this  will  keep  their  thoughts  easy  and  free,  whilst  they 
are  with  him,  the  only  temper  wherein  the  mind  is  capable 
of  receiving  new  informations,  and  of  admitting  into 
itself  those  impressions,  which  if  not  taken  and  retained, 
all  that  they  and  their  teacher  do  together,  is  lost  labour  ; 
there  is  much  uneasiness,  and  little  learning.] 

168.^  When,  by  this  way  of  interhning  Latin  and 
English  one  with  another,  he  has  got  a  moderate  know- 
ledge of  the  Latin  tongue,  he  may  then  be  advanced  a 
little  farther  to  the  reading  of  some  other  easy  Latin 
book,  such  as  Justin,  or  Eutropius;^  and  to  make  the 
reading  and  understanding  of  it  the  less  tedious  and 
difiicult  to  him,  let  him  help  himself,  if  he  please,  with  the 
Enghsh  translation.  Nor  let  the  objection,  that  he  will 
then  know  it  only  by  rote  (which  is  when  well  considered 
not  of  any  moment  against,  but  plainly  for  this  way  of 
learning  a  language),  fright  any  one.  For  languages  are 
_onlv  to  be  learned  by  rote  ;  and  a  man,  who  does  not 

^  Sec.  159  in  first  edition. 

2  Justin  wrote  (probably  in  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  era) 
an  abridgement  of  a  much  earlier  Universal  History  ;  he  was 
regarded  in  the  Middle  Ages  as  the  model  historian.  See  Sandys' 
A  History  of  Classical  Scholarship,  vols,  i.,  ii.  Flavivs  Eutropius, 
another  historical  compiler,  belongs  to  the  fourth  century. 


134         THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

speak  English  or  Latin  perfectly  by  rote,  so  that  having 
thought  of  the  thing  he  would  speak  of,  his  tongue  of 
course,  without  thought  of  rule  of  grammar,  falls  into 
the  proper  expressions  and  idiom  of  that  language,  does 
not  speak  it  well,  nor  is  master  of  it.  And  I  would  fain 
have  any  one  name  to  me  that  tongue,  that  any  one  can 
learn  or  speak  as  he  should  do,  by  the  rules  of  grammar. 
Languages  were  made  not  by  rules  or  art,  but  by  accident, 
and  the  common  use  of  the  people.  And  he  that  will 
speak  them  well,  has  no  other  rule  but  that ;  nor  any  thing 
to  trust  to  but  his  memory,  and  the  habit  of  speaking  after 
the  fashion  learned  from  those  that  are  allowed  to  speak 
properly,  which,  in  other  words,  is  only  to  speak  by  rote. 

Grammar. — It  will  possibly  be  asked  here.  Is  grammar 
then  of  no  use  ?  And  have  those  who  have  taken  so 
much  pains  in  reducing  several  languages  to  rules  and 
observations,  who  have  written  so  much  about  declen- 
sions and  conjugations,  about  concords  and  syntaxis,  lost 
their  labour,  and  been  learned  to  no  purpose  ?  I  say  not 
so  ;  grammar  has  its  place,  too.  But  this  I  think  I  may 
say.  There  is  more  stir  a  great  deal  made  with  it  than  there 
needs,  and  those  are  tormented  about  it,  to  whom  it  does 
not  at  all  belong ;  I  mean  children,  at  the  age  wherein 
they  are  usually  perplexed  with  it  in  grammar  schools.^ 

[There  is  nothing  more  evident,  than  that  languages 
learned  by  rote  serve  well  enough  for  the  common  affairs 
of  life,  and  ordinary  commerce.  Nay,  persons  of  quality 
of  the  softer  sex,  and  such  of  them  as  have  spent  their 
time  in  well-bred  company,  show  us,  that  this  plain, 
natural  way,  without  the  least  study  or  knowledge  of 
grammar,  can  carry  them  to  a  great  degree  of  elegance 
and  politeness  in  their  language  :  and  there  are  ladies 
who,  without  knowing  what  tenses  and  participles, 
adverbs  and  prepositions  are,  speak  as  properly,  and  as 
correctly  (they  might  take  it  for  an  ill  compliment,  if  I 
said  as  any  country  school-master)  as  most  gentlemen  who 
have  been  bred  up  in  the  ordinary  methods  of  grammar- 

^  The  relevance  of  the  rcm?\,inder  of  this  section  to  the  "  Direct 
Method"  of  teaching  languages  will  be  noticed. 


168.  GRAMMAR 


135 


\ 


schools.  Grammar  therefore  we  see  may  be  spared  in 
some  cases.  The  question  then  will  be,  To  whom  should 
it  be  taught,  and  when  ?     To  this  I  answer,  "^ 

1 .  Men  learn  languages  for  the  pj;^inaixi5i§I£0urse  of 
society,  and  communication  of  thoughtrmcomrnaolife, 
withoiit_any^farther  design  in  their  use  of  them.     And 
for  this  purpose  the  original  way  of  learning  a  language     ^^ 
by  conversation,  not  only  serves  well  enough,  but  is  to  ^ 
be  preferred,  as  the  most  expedite,  proper,  and  natural.     " 
Therefore  to  this  use  of  language  one  may  answer.  That     . 
grammar  is  not  necessary.     This  so  many  of  my  readers    \ 
must  be  forced  to  allow,  as  understand  what  I  here  say, 
and  who,  conversing  with  others,  understand  them  with- 
out having  ever  been  taught  the  grammar  of  the  English 
tongue :  which  I  suppose  is  the  case  of  incomparably  the 
greatest  part  of  Englishmen ;  of  whom  I  have  never  yet 
known  any  one  who  learned  his  mother-tongue  by  rules. 

2.  Others  there  are,  the  greatest  part^olwhose  business 
iiiJJTJs, world  ia  to  be  done  with  their  tongues,  and  with 
their  pens  ;  and  to  those  it  is  convenient,  if  not  necessary, 
that  they  should  speak  properly  and  correctly,  whereby 
they  may  let  their  thoughts  into  other  men's  minds  the 
more  easily  and  with  the  greater  impression.     Upon  this  .^ 
account  it  is,  that  any  sort  of  speaking,  so  as  will  make  OJ 
him  be  understood,  is  not  thought  enough  for  a  gentle-    i^ 
man.     He  ought  to  study  grammar,  amongst  the  other '^ 
helps  oi  speakmg  well :  but  it  must  be  the  grammar  of 
his  own  tongue,  of  the  language  he  uses,  that  he  may 
understand  his  own  country  speech  nicely,^  and  speak  it 
properly,  without  shocking  the  ears  of  those  it  is  addressed 
to,  with  solecisms,  and  offensive  irregularities.     And  to 
this  purpose  grammar  is  necessary  :  but  it  is  the  grammar  } 
only  of  their  own  proper  tongues,  and  to  those  only  who  ' 
would  take  pains  in  cultivating  their  language,  and  in 
perfecting  their  styles.     Whether  all  gentlemen  should 
not  do  this,  I  leave  to  be  considered,  since  the  want  of 
propriety   and   grammatical   exactness  is   thought   very 
misbecoming  one  of  that  rank,  and  usually  draws  on  one 

^  Precisely. 


136         THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

guilty  of  such  faults  the  censure  of  having  had  a  lower 
breeding  and  worse  company  than  suits  with  his  quality. 
If  this  be  so  (as  I  suppose  it  is),  it  will  be  matter  of  wonder, 
why  young  gentlemen  are  forced  to  learn  the  grammars 
of  foreign  and  dead  languages,  and  are  never  once  told 
of  the  grammar  of  their  own  tongues  :  they  do  not  so 
much  as  know  there  is  any  such  thing,  much  less  is  it 
made  their  business  to  be  instructed  in  it.  Nor  is  their 
own  language  ever  proposed  to  them  as  worthy  their 
care  and  cultivating,  though  they  have  daily  use  of  it, 
and  are  not  seldom  in  the  future  course  of  their  lives 
judged  of,  by  their  handsome  or  awkward  way  of  express- 
ing themselves  in  it.  Whereas  the  languages,  whose 
grammars  they  have  been  so  much  employed  in,  are  such 
as  probably  they  shall  scarce  ever  speak  or  write ;  or,  if 
upon  occasion  this  should  happen,  they  shall  be  excused 
for  the  mistakes  and  faults  they  make  in  it.  Would 
not  a  Chinese,  who  took  notice  of  this  way  of  breeding, 
be  apt  to  imagine  that  all  our  young  gentlemen  were 
designed  to  be  teachers  and  professors  of  the  dead 
languages  of  foreign  countries,  and  not  to  be  men  of 
business  in  their  own  ? 

3.  There  is  a  third  sort  of  meji  who  apply  themselv£S 
to  two  or  three-  foreign-dead  (and  which  amongst  us  are 
called  the  learned)  languages,  make  them  their  study,  and 
pique  themselves  upon  their  skill  in  them.  No  doubt 
those  who  propose  to  themselves  the  learning  of  any 
language  with  this  view,  and  would  be  critically  exact  in 
it,  oughtcaj-efullyLJiiL_st^^  of  it.     I  would 

not  be  mistaken  here,  as  if  this  were  to  undervalue  Greek 
and  Latin  :  I  grant  these  are  languages  of  great  use  and 
^  excellency  ;  arid  a  man  can  have  no  place  amongst  the 
^    ^  learned,  in  this  part  of  the  world,  who  is  a  stranger  to 
them.     But  the  knowledge  a  gentleman  would  ordinarily 
draw  for  his  use,  out  of  the  Koman  and  Greek  writers,  I 
think  he  may  attain  without  studying  the  grammars  of 
those  tongues,  and,  by  bare  reading,  may  come  to  under- 
v^tand  them  sufficiently  for  all  his  purposes.     How  much 
farther  he  shall  at  any  time  be  concerned  to  look  into  the 


168.  GRAMMAR  137 

grammar  and  critical  niceties  of  either  of  these  tongues, 
he  himself  will  be  able  to  determine,  when  he  comes  to 
propose  to  himself  the  study  of  anything  that  shall 
require  it.  Which  brings  me  to  the  other  part  of  the 
inquiry,  viz, — 

"  When  grammar  should  be  taught  ?" 

To  which,  upon  the  premised  grounds,  the  answer  is 
obvious,  viz. — 

That  if  ^ammajL_ought  jLO_J)je  JiajighJLat  any  time,  it 
must  be  to  one  that  can  speak  the  language  already  :  how 
else  can  he  be  taught  the  grammar  of  it  ?  This,  at  least, 
is  evident  from  the  practice  of  the  wise  and  learned 
nations  amongst  the  ancients.  They  made  it  a  part  of  edu- 
cation to  cultivate  their  own,  not  foreign  tongues.  The 
Greeks  counted  all  other  nations  barbarous,  and  had  a 
contempt  for  their  languages.  And,  though  the  Greek 
learning  grew  in  credit  amongst  the  Eomans,  towards  the 
end  of  their  commonwealth,  yet  it  was  the  Roman  tongue 
that  was  made  the  study  of  their  youth  :  their  own  lan- 
guage they  were  to  make  use  of,  and  therefore  it  was  their 
own  language  they  were  instructed  and  exercised  in. 

But  more  particularly  to  determine  the  proper  season 
for  grammar,  I  do  not  see  how  it  can  reasonably  bejnade 
any  one's  study,  butjis  an  introduction  to  rEetoric^:  when 
it  is  thought  time  tcTput  any  one  upon  the  care  of  polishing 
his  tongue,  and  of  speaking  better  than  the  illiterate,  then 
is  the  time  for  him  to  be  instructed  in  the  rules  of  grammar, 
and  not  before.  For  grammar  being  to  teach  men  not 
to  speak,  but  to  speak  correctly,  and  according  to  the 
exact  rules  of  the  tongue,  which  is  one  part  of  elegancy, 
there  is  little  use  of  the  one  to  him  that  has  no  need  of 
the  other  :  where  rhetoric  is  not  necessary,  grammar  inay 
be  spared.^  1  know  not  why  any  one  should  waste  his 
time,  and  beat  his  head  about  the  Latin  grammar,  who 
does  not  intend  to  be  a  critic,  or  make  speeches,  and  write 
dispatches  in  it.     When  any  one  finds  in  himself  a  neces- 

^  In  the  mother-tongue,  as  much  rhetoric  as  goes  to  making 
"composition"  is  necessary,  and  to  that  extent  grammar  cannot 
be  spared.     See  sees.  171,  172,  189. 


138  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

sity  or  disposition  to  study  any  foreign  language  to  the 
bottom,  and  to  be  nicely  exact  in  the  knowledge  of  it,  it 
will  be  time  enough  to  take  a  grammatical  survey  of  it. 
If  his  use  of  it  be  only  to  understand  some  books  written 
in  it,  without  a  critical  knowledge  of  the  tongue  itself, 
reading  alone,  as  I  have  said,  will  attain  this  end,  without 
charging  the  mind  with  the  multiplied  rules  and  intricacies 
of  grammar.] 

1 69 .  For  ^he  exercise  of  his  writing,  let  him  sometimes 
translate  Latin  into  English  ;  but  the  learning  of  Latin 
being  nothing  but  the  learning  of  words,  a  very  unpleasant 
business  both  to  young  and  old,  join  as  much  other  real 
knowledge^  with  it  as  you  can,  beginning  still  with  that 
which  lies  most  obvious  to  the  senses  ;  such  as  is  the 
knowledge  of  minerals,  plants,  and  animals,  and  par- 
ticularly timber  and  fruit-trees,  their  parts  and  ways  of 
propagation,  where  a  great  deal  may  be  taught  a  child, 
which  will  not  be  useless  to  the  man.  But  more  especially 
geography,  astronomy,  and  anatomy. 

170.  But  if,  after  all,  his  fate  be  to  go  to  school  to  get 
the  Latin  tongue,  'tis  in  vain  to  talk  to  you  concerning 
the  method  I  think  best  to  be  observed  in  schools.  You 
must  submit  to  that  you  find  there,  not  expect  to  have  it 
changed  for  your  son  ;  but  yet  by  all  means  obtain,  if 
you  can,  that  he  be  not  employed  in  making  Latin  themes 
and  declamations,  and,  least  of  all,  verses  of  any  kind. 
You  may  insist  on  it,  if  it  will  do  any  good,  that  you  have  no 
design  to  make  him  either  a  Latin  orator  or  poet,  but  barely 
would  have  him  understand  perfectly  a  Latin  author  ;  and 
that  you  observe  those  who  teach  any  of  the  modern  lan- 
guages, and  that  with  success,  never  amuse  their  scholars 
to  make  speeches  or  verses  either  in  French  or  Italian, 
their  business  being  language  barely,  and  not  invention. 

^  "  Real "  in  the  sense  of  "  positive,"  and  opposed  to  both 
"verbal"  and  "rational"  or  "demonstrative."  Cf.  the  use  of 
the  German  term,  Realien,  to  include  such  studies  as  history, 
geography,  and  the  observational  and  experimental  stages  of 
science.  See  sec.  178.  Either  the  advice  given  is  contradictory 
of  sec.  173  below,  or  Locke  does  not  regard  this  "  real  knowledge  " 
as  a  strain  on  the  mind. 


171,  THEMES  139 

171.  Themes. — But  to  tell  you,  a  little  more  fully,  why 
I  would  not  have  him  exercised  in  making  of  themes  and 
verses.  1.  As  to  themes,  they  have,  I  confess,  the  pre- 
tence of  something  useful,  which  is  to  teach  people  to 
speak  handsomely  and  well  on  any  subject ;  which,  if  it 
could  be  attained  this  way,  I  own  would  be  a  great 
advantage ;  there  being  nothing  more  becoming  a  gentle- 
man, nor  more  useful  in  all  the  occurrences  of  hfe,  than 
to  be  able,  on  any  occasion,  to  speak  well,  and  to  the 
purpose.  But  this  I  say,  that  the  makin£_of  themes, 
a^J^jisuarm_schoolg7iTel|T§'not  one~7Q^  towardsji.  For 
Qo  but  consider  what 'tis  iii  making  aliheme,  that  a  young 
lad  is  employed  about ;  'tis  to  make  a  speech  on  some 
Latin  saying,  as,  "  Omnia  vincit  amor,"  or  "  Non  licet  in 
hello  his  peccare,"^  etc.  And  here  the  poor  lad,  who  wants 
knowledge  of  these  things  he  is  to  speak  of,  which  is  to  be 
had  only  from  time  and  observation,  must  set  his  invention 
on  the  rack,  to  say  something  where  he  knows  nothing, 
which  is  a  sort  of  Egyptian  tyranny,  to  bid  them  make 
bricks  who  have  not  yet  any  of  the  materials.  And 
therefore  it  is  usual,  in  such  cases,  for  the  poor  children 
to  go  to  those  of  higher  forms  with  this  petitio-n,  "  Pray 
give  me  a  little  sense  ;"  which,  whether  it  be  more  reason- 
able or  more  ridiculous,  is  not  easy  to  determine.  Before 
a  man  can  be  in  any  capacity  to  speak  on  any  subject,  it  is 
necessary  he  be  acquainted  with  it  ;  or  else  it  is  as  foolish 
to  set  him  to  discourse  of  it,  as  to  set  a  blind  man  to  talk 
of  colours,  or  a  deaf  man  of  music.  And  would  you  not 
think  him  a  little  cracked  who  would  require  another  to 
make  an  argument  on  a  moot-point,^  who  understands 
nothing  of  our  laws  ?  And  what,  I  pray,  do  school-boys 
understand  concerning  those  matters,  which  are  used  to 
be  proposed  to  them  in  their  themes,  as  subjects  to  dis- 
course on,  to  whet  and  exercise  their  fancies  ? 

*  "  Love  conquers  all  things."  "  In  warfare,  one  is  not  allowed 
to  blunder  twice." 

^  A  legal  point,  as  to  which  lawyers  themselves  might  diflfer.  The 
term  belongs  to  the  history  of  legal  education,  a  "  moot-point " 
being  a  topic  for  argument  by  law-students  before  the  seniors  of 
their  Inn. 


140          THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

172.  In  the  next  place  consider  the  language  that  their 
themes  are  made  in.     'Tis  Latin,  a  language  foreign  in 
their  country,  and  long  since  dead  everywhere  ;  ^  a  lan- 
guage which  your  son,  'tis  a  thousand  to  one,  shall  never 
have  an  occasion  once  to  make  a  speech  in  as  long  as  he 
lives,  after  he  comes  to  be  a  man  ;  and  a  language,  wherein 
the  manner  of  expressing  oneself  is  so  far  different  from 
ours,  that  to  be  perfect  in  that,  would  very  little  improve 
the  purity  and  facihty  of  his  Enghsh  style.     Besides  that, 
there  is  now  so  little  room  or  use  for  set  speeches  in  our 
own  language  in  any  part  of  our  Enghsh  business,  that  I 
can  see  no  pretence  for  this  sort  of  exercise  in  our  schools  ; 
unless  it  can  be  supposed,  that  the  making  of  set  Latin 
speeches  should  be  the  way  to  teach  men  to  speak  well  in 
Enghsh  extempore.     The  way  to  that  I  should  think 
rather  to  be  this  :  that  there  should  be  proposed  some 
rational  and  material  question  to  young  gentlemen,  when 
they  are  of  a  fit  age  for  such  exercise,  which  they  should 
extempore  or  after  a  little  meditation  in  the  place,  speak 
to,  without  penning  of  anything.     For  I  ask,  if  we  will 
examine  the  effects  of  this  way  of  learning  to  speak  well, 
who  speak  best  in  any  business,  when  occasion  calls  them 
to  it  upon  any  debate  ;  either  those  who  have  accustomed 
themselves  to  compose  and  write  down  before-hand  what 
they  would  say ;   or  those,   who  thinking  only  of  the 
matter,  to  understand  that  as  well  as  they  can,  use  them- 
selves  only   to   speak   extempore  ?     And   he   that   shall 
judge  by  this,  will  be  httle  apt  to  think,  that  the  accus- 
toming him  to  studied  speeches,  and  set  compositions,  is 
the  way  to  fit  a  young  gentleman  for  business. 

173.  But  perhaps  we  shall  be  told,  It  is  to  improve  and 
perfect  them  in  the  Latin  tongue.  It  is  true,  that  is  their 
proper  business  at  school ;  but  the  making  of  themes  is 
not  the  way  to  it :  that  perplexes  their  brains,  about 
invention  of  things  to  be  said,  not  about  the  signification 
of  words  to  be  learnt :  and  when  they  are  making  a  theme, 
it  is  thoughts  they  search  and  sweat  for,  and  not  lan- 

^  A  statement  to  be  accepted  with  some  reservations.  Locke 
himself  wrote  Latin  letters  to  his  foreign  correapondents  down  to 
the  month  in  which  he  died. 


173.  THEMES— 174.  VERSES  141 

guage.  But  the  learning  and  mastery  of  a  tongue  being 
uneasy  and  unpleasant  enough  in  itself,  should  not  be 
cumbered  with  any  other  difficulties,  as  is  done  in  this 
way  of  proceeding.^  In  fine,  if  boys'  invention  be  to  be 
quickened  by  such  exercise,  let  them  make  themes  in 
English,  where  they  have  facility  and  a  command  of 
words,  and  will  better  see  what  kind  of  thoughts  they 
have,  when  put  into  their  own  language.  And  if  the  Latin 
tongue  is  to  be  learned,  let  it  be  done  the  easiest  way, 
without  toiling  and  disgusting  the  mind  by  so  uneasy  an 
employment  as  that  of  making  speeches  joined  to  it. 

174.  Verses. — If  these  may  be  any  reasons  against 
children's  making  Latin  themes  at  school,  I  have  much 
more  to  sav.^  and  of  more  weight^,..ag4inst  their  making 
ve^es.  verses  of  any  s'ort ;  for  ifTietias  no  genius  to  poetry, 
Tfisthe  most  unreasonable  thing  in  the  world  to  torment 
a  child,  and  waste  his  time  about  that  which  can  never 
succeed  ;  and  if  he  have  a  poetic  vein,^  it  is  to  me  the 
strangest  thing  in  the  world,  that  the  father  should  desire 
or  suffer  it  to  be  cherished  or  improved.  Methinks  the 
parents  should  labour  to  have  it  stifled  and  suppressed  as 
much  as  may  be  ;  and  I  know  not  what  reason  a  father 
can  have  to  wish  his  son  a  poet,  who  does  not  desire  to 
have  him  bid  defiance  to  all  other  callings  and  business  : 
which  is  not  yet  the  worst  of  the  case  ;  for  if  he  proves  a 
successful  rhymer,  and  gets  once  the  reputation  of  a  wit,  I 
desire  it  may  be  considered  what  company  and  places  he 
is  like  to  spend  his  time  in,  nay,  and  estate  too.  For  it 
is  very  seldom  seen  that  any  one  discovers  mines  of  gold 
or  silver  in  Parnassus.  'Tis  a  pleasant  air,  but  a  barren 
soil ;  and  there  are  very  few  instances  of  those  who  have 
added  to  their  patrimony  by  anything  they  have  reaped 
from  thence.  Poetry  and  gaming,  which  usually  go 
together,  are  alike  in  this  too,  that  they  seldom  bring 
any  advantage,  but  to  those  who  have  nothing  else  to 
live  on.  Men  of  estates  almost  constantly  go  away  losers  ; 
and  'tis  well  if  they  escape  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  their 

^  Compare  sec.  169,  above. 

^  Conduct,  sec.  4,  "Many  a  good  poetic  vein  is  buried  under  a  trade." 


142  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

whole  estates,  or  the  greatest  part  of  them.  If  therefore 
you  would  not  have  your  son  the  fiddle  to  every  jovial 
company,  without  whom  the  sparks  could  not  relish  their 
wine,  nor  know  how  to  pass  an  afternoon  idly  ;  if  you 
would  not  have  him  waste  his  time  and  estate  to  divert 
others,  and  contemn  the  dirty  acres  left  him  by  his 
ancestors,  I  do  not  think  you  will  much  care  he  should 
be  a  poet,  or  that  his  school-master  should  enter  him  in 
versifying.  But  yet,  if  any  one  will  think  poetry  a 
desirable  quality  in  his  son,  and  that  the  study  of  it  would 
raise  his  fancy  and  parts,  he  must  needs  yet  confess,  that, 
to  that  end,  reading  the  excellent  Greek  and  Roman  poets 
is  of  more  use  than  making  bad  verses  of  his  own,  in  a 
language  that  is  not  his  own.  And  he,  whose  design  it  is 
to  excel  in  English  poetry,  would  not,  I  guess,  think  the 
way  to  it  were  to  make  his  first  essays  in  Latin  verses.^ 

175.  Another  thing,  very  ordinary  in  the  vulgar  method 
of  grammar-schools,  there  is,  of  which  I  see  no  use  at  all, 
unless  it  be  to  balk  young  lads  in  the  way  of  learning 
languages,  which,  in  my  opinion,  should  be  made  as  easy 
and  pleasant  as  may  be  ;  and  that  which  was  painful  in  it 
as  much  as  possible  quite  removed.  That  which  I  mean, 
and  here  complain  of,  is,  their  being  forced  to  learn  by 
heart  great  parcels  of  the  authors  which  are  taught 
them  ;  wherein  I  can  discover  no  advantage  at  all,  es- 
pecially to  the  business  they  are  upon.  Languages  are 
to  be  learnt  only  by  reading  and  talking,  and  not  by 
scraps  of  authors  got  by  heart ;  which,  when  a  man's 
head  is  stuffed  with,  he  has  got  the  just  furniture  of  a 
pedant,  and  it  is  the  ready  way  to  make  him  one,  than 
which  there  is  nothing  less  becoming  a  gentleman.  For 
what  can  be  more  ridiculous,  than  to  mix  the  rich  and 
handsome  thoughts  and  sayings  of  others  with  a  deal  of 
poor  stuff  of  his  own  ;  which  is  thereby  the  more  exposed, 
and  has  no  other  grace  in  it,  nor  will  otherwise  recom- 
mend the  speaker,  than  a  thread-bare  russet-coat  would, 

^  This  section  is  beyond  apology  ;  but  it  is  characteristic  of  the 
author's  grave  aesthetic  limitations,  and  may  be  reminiscent  of 
verse -making  at  Westminster  under  Busby. 


175,  176.  ROTE  143 

that  was  set  off  with  large  patches  of  scarlet  and  glittering 
brocade  ?  Indeed,  where  a  passage  comes  in  the  way, 
whose  matter  is  worth  remembrance,  and  the  expression 
of  it  very  close  and  excellent  (as  there  are  many  such  in  the 
ancient  authors),  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  lodge  it  in  the 
minds  of  young  scholars,  and  with  such  admirable  strokes 
of  those  great  masters  sometimes  exercise  the  memories 
of  school-boys.  But  their  learning  of  their  lessons  by 
heart,  as  they  happen  to  fall  out  in  their  books  without 
choice  or  distinction,  I  know  not  what  it  serves  for,  but  to 
mispend  their  time  and  pains,  and  give  them  a  disgust 
and  aversion  to  their  books,  wherein  they  find  nothing  but 
useless  trouble. 

[176.^  I  hear  it  is  said,  That  children  should  be  employed 
in  getting  things  by  heart,  to  exercise  and  improve  their 
memories.  I  could  wish  this  were  said  with  as  much 
authority  of  reason,  as  it  is  with  forwardness  of  assurance ; 
and  that  this  practice  were  established  upon  good  obser- 
vation, more  than  old  custom  ;  for  it  is  evident,  that 
strength  of  memory  is  owing  to  a  happy  constitution, 
and  not  to  any  habitual  improvement  got  by  exercise. 
It  is  true,  what  the  mind  is  intent  upon,  and  for  fear  of 
letting  it  slip,  often  imprints  afresh  on  itself  by  frequent 
reflection,  that  it  is  apt  to  retain,  but  still  according  to 
its  own  natural  strength  of  retention.  An  impression 
made  on  bees- wax  or  lead  will  not  last  so  long  as  on  brass 
or  st,eel.2  Indeed,  if  it  be  renewed  often,  it  may  last  the 
longer  ;  but  every  new  reflecting  on  it  is  a  new  impression, 
and  it  is  from  thence  one  is  to  reckon,  if  one  would  know 
how  long  the  mind  retains  it.  But  the  learning  pages  of  i 
[Latin  by  heart,  no  more  fits  the  memory  for  retention  ' 
of  anything  else,  than  the  graving  of  one  sentence  in  lead, 
makes  it^  the  more  capable  of  retaining  firmly  any  otheiy 

^  Especially  valuable  in  connection  with  the  doctrines  of  "  formal 
training  "  and  "  memory  training." 

2  "  All  improvement  of  the  memory  lies  in  the  line  of  elaborating 
the  associates  of  each  of  the  several  things  to  be  remembered.  No 
amount  of  culture  would  seem  capable  of  modifying  a  man's  general 
retentiveness."  (Wm.  James,  Psychology,  Briefer  Course,  p.  296). 

3  Sc.  the  lead.     Compare  Conduct,  sec.  28,  note. 


144  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

characters.  If  such  a  sort  of  exercise  of  the  memory 
were  able  to  give  it  strength,  and  improve  our  parts, 
players  of  all  other  people  must  needs  have  the  best 
memories,  and  be  the  best  company  :  but  whether  the 
scraps  they  have  got  into  their  heads  this  way,  make  them 
remember  other  things  the  better ;  and  whether  their 
parts  be  improved  proportionably  to  the  pains  they  have 
taken  in  getting  by  heart  other  sayings,  experience  will 
show.  Memory  is  so  necessary  to  all  parts  and  conditions 
of  life,  and  so  little  is  to  be  done  without  it,  that  we  are 
not  to  fear  it  should  grow  dull  and  useless  for  want  of 
exercise,  if  exercise  would  make  it  grow  stronger.  But  Ij 
kfear  this  faculty  of  the  mind  is  not  capable  of  much  helpj 
j  and  amendment  in  general,  by  any  exercise  or  endeavour! 
I  of  ours,  at  least  not  by  that  used  upon  this  pretence  in) 
grammar-schools.  And  if  Xerxes  was  able  to  call  every 
common  soldier  by  his  name,  in  his  army,  that  consisted 
of  no  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  men,  I  think  it  may 
be  guessed  he  got  not  this  wonderful  ability  by  learning 
his  lessons  by  heart,  when  he  was  a  boy.  This  method  of 
exercising  and  improving  the  memory  by  toilsome  repe- 
titions, without  book,  of  what  they  read,  is,  I  think,  little 
used  in  the  education  of  princes  ;  which,  if  it  had  that 
advantage  that  is  talked  of,  should  be  as  little  neglected 
in  them,  as  in  the  meanest  school-boys :  princes  having 
as  much  need  of  good  memories  as  any  men  living,  and 
have  generally  an  equal  share  in  this  faculty  with  other 
men  :  though  it  has  never  been  taken  care  of  this  way. 
What  the  mind  is  intent  upon,  and  careful  of,  that  it 
remembers  best,  and  for  the  reason  above-mentioned  :  to 
which  jfjnethod  and  order  be  joined,  all  is  done,  I  think, 
that  can  be,  for  the  help  of  a  weak  memory  ;  and  he  that 
will  take  any  other  way  to  do  it,  especially  that  of  charging 
it  with  a  train  of  other  people's  words,  which  he  that  learns 
cares  not  for,  will,  I  guess,  scarce  find  the  profit  answer 
half  the  time  and  pains  employed  in  it. 

I  do  not  mean  hereby,  that  there  should  be  no  exercise 
given  to  children's  memories.  I  think  their  memories 
should  be  employed,  but  not  in  learning  by  rote  whole 


176,  177.  ROTE  145 

pages  out  of  books,  which,  the  lesson  being  once  said,  and 
that  task  over,  are  dehvered  up  again  to  obHvion,  and 
neglected  for  ever.  This  mends  neither  the  memory  nor 
the  mind.  What  they  should  learn  by  heart  out  of 
authors,  I  have  above  mentioned  :  and  such  wise  and  useful 
sentences  being  once  given  in  charge  to  their  memories, 
they  should  never  be  suffered  to  forget  again,  but  be  often 
called  to  account  for  them  :  whereby,  besides  the  use  those 
sayings  may  be  to  them  in  their  future  life,  as  so  many 
good  rules  and  observations,  they  will  be  taught  to  reflect 
often,  and  bethink  themselves  what  they  have  to  remem- 
ber, which  is  the  only  way  to  make  the  memory  quick 
and  useful.  The  custom  of  frequent  reflection  will  keep 
their  minds  from  running  adrift^  and  call  their  thoughts 
home  from  useless,  inattentive  roving  :  and  therefore,  I 
think,  it^may  do  well,  to  give  them  something  every  day 
to  remember ;  but  soinething  still,  that  is  in  itself  worthy 
the  remembering,  ancf  what  you  would  never  havd  out  of 
mind,  whenever  you  call,  or  they  themselves  search  for 
it.  This  will  oblige  them  often  to  turn  their  thoughts 
inwards,  than  which  you  cannot  wish  them  a  better 
intellectual  habit.] 

177.^  But  under  whose  care  soever  a  child  is  put  to  be 
taught,  during  the  tender  and  flexible  years  of  his  life,  this 
is  certain,  it  should  be  one  who  thinks  Latin  and  language 
the  least  part  of  education  ;  one,  who  knowing  how  much 
virtue,  and  a  well-tempered  soul,  is  to  be  preferred  to  any 
sort  of  learning  or  language,  makes  it  his  chief  business  to 
form  the  mind  of  his  scholars,  and  give  that  a  right  dis- 
position :  which,  if  once  got,  though  all  the  rest  should  be 
neglected,  would,  in  due  time,  produce  all  the  rest ;  and 
which,  if  it  be  not  got,  and  settled,  so  as  to  keep  out  ill 
and  vicious  habits,  languages  and  sciences,  and  all  the 
other  accompHshments  of  education,  will  be  to  no  purpose, 
but  to  make  the  worse  or  more  dangerous  man.  And 
indeed,  whatever  stir  there  is  made  about  getting  of  Latin, 
as  the  great  and  difficult  business,  his  mother  may  teach 
it  him  herself,  if  she  will  but  spend  two  or  three  hours  in  a 

^  Sec.  167  in  first  edition. 

10 


146  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

day  with  him,  and  make  him  read  the  evangehsts  in  Latin 
to  her :  for  she  need  but  buy  a  Latin  Testament,  and 
having  got  somebody  to  mark  the  last  syllable  but  one, 
where  it  is  long,  in  words  above  two  syllables  (which  is 
enough  to  regulate  her  pronunciation,  and  accenting  the 
words),  read  daily  in  the  gospels,^  and  then  let  her  avoid 
understanding  them  in  Latin,  if  she  can.  And  when  she 
understands  the  evangelists  in  Latin,  let  her,  in  the  same 
manner,  read  yEsop's  Fables,  and  so  proceed  on  to  Eutro- 
pius,  Justin,  and  other  such  books.  I  do  not  mention  this, 
as  an  imagination  of  what  I  fancy  may  do,  but  as  of  a 
thing  I  have  known  done,  and  the  Latin  tongue,  with  ease, 
got  this  way. 

But  to  return  to  what  I  was  saying :  he  that  takes  on 
him  the  charge  of  bringing  up  young  men,  especially 
young  gentlemen,  should  have  something  more  in  liim 
than  Latin,  more  than  even  a  knowledge  in  the  liberal 
scienceif;  he  should  be  a  person  of  eminent  virtue  and 
prudence,  and  with  good  sense  have  good  humour,  and 
the  skill  to  carry  himself  with  gravity,  ease,  and  kindness, 
in  a  constant  conversation  with  his  pupils. 

178.  At  the  same  time  that  he  is  learning  French  and 
Latin,  a  child,  as  has  been  said,  may  also  be  entered  in 
arithmetic,  geography,  chronology,  history,  and  geo- 
metry, too.  For  if  these  be  taught  him  in  French  or 
Latin,  when  he  begins  once  to  understand  either  of  these 
tongues,  he  will  get  a  knowledge  in  these  sciences,  and 
the  language  to  boot.^ 

Geography. — Geography,  I  think,  should  be  begun  with  ; 
for  the  learning  of  the  figure  of  the  globe,  the  situation 
and  boundaries  of  the  four  parts  of  the  world,  and  that 
of  particular   kingdoms   and   countries,   being  only   an 

^  "  When  the  whim  takes  you  to  leam  Enghsh,  you  have  only  to 
follow  my  method  of  reading  every  day  a  chapter  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  in  a  month  you  will  become  master  of  it."  So,  in  French 
of  doubtful  idiom,  Locke  wrote  to  Thoynard  in  September,  1679, 
perhaps  describing  his  own  mode  of  studying  French.  The  letter  is 
given  in  H.  OUion's  Notes  sur  la  correspondance  de  John  Locke — 
1678-1681  (Paris,  1908). 

2  See  sees.  169,  173. 


178.  GEOGEAPHY— 179,  180.  ARITHMETIC  147 

exercise  of  the  eyes  and  memory,  a  child  with  pleasure 
will  learn  and  retain  them  :  and  this  is  so  certain,  that  I 
now  live  in  the  house  with  a  child  ^  whom  his  mother  has 
so  well  instructed  this  way  in  geography,  that  he  knew 
the  limits  of  the  four  parts  of  the  world,  could  readily 
point,  being  asked,  to  any  country  upon  the  globe,  or 
any  county  in  the  map  of  England  ;  knew  all  the  great 
rivers,  promontories,  straits,  and  bays  in  the  world,  and 
could  find  the  longitude  and  latitude  of  any  place,  before 
he  was  six  years  old.^  These  things  that  he  will  thus 
learn  by  sight,  and  have  by  rote  in  his  memory,  are  not 
all,  I  confess,  that  he  is  to  learn  upon  the  globes.  But 
yet  it  is  a  good  step  and  preparation  to  it,  and  will  make 
the  remainder  much  easier,  when  his  judgment  is  grown 
ripe  enough  for  it :  besides  that,  it  gets  so  much  time  now  ; 
and  by  the  pleasure  of  knowing  things,  leads  him  on 
insensibly  to  the  gaining  of  languages. 

179.  Arithmetic. — When  he  has  the  natural  parts  of 
the  globe  well  fixed  in  his  memory,  it  may  then  be  time 
to  begin  arithmetic.  By  the  natural  parts  of  the  globe,  I 
mean  the  several  positions  of  the  parts  of  the  earth  and  sea, 
under  different  names  and  distinctions  of  countries  ;  not 
coming  yet  to  those  artificial  and  imaginary  lines,  which 
have  been  invented,  and  are  only  supposed,  for  the  better 
improvement  of  that  science. 

180.  Arithmetic  is  the  easiest,  and  consequently  the 
first  sort  of  abstract  reasoning,  which  the  mind  commonly 
bears,  or  accustoms  itself  to  :  and  is  of  so^eneral  use  in 
all  parts_ofJife  and  business. -that  scarce  any  .thing  is  to 
be  donewithout  it.  This  is  certain,  a  man  cannot  have 
too  much  of  it,  nor  too  perfectly  ;  he  should  therefore 
begin  to  be  exercised  in  counting,  as  soon,  and  as  far,  as 
he  is  capable  of  it ;  and  do  something  in  it  every  day,  till 
he  is  master  of  the  art  of  numbers.  When  he  under- 
stands addition  and  subtraction,  he  may  then  be  advanced 

^  Francis  Cudworth  Masham.  See  the  Dedication  to  Edward 
Clarke,  above. 

2  Locke  is  here  untrue  to  his  own  principles  in  accepting  words 
for  ideas.     See,  too,  sec.  181. 


148        THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

farther  in  geography,  and  after  he  is  acquainted  with 
the  poles,  zones,  parallel  circles,  and  meridians,  be  taught 
longitude  and  latitude,  and  the  use  of  maps.^  [Which 
when  he  can  readily  do,  he  may  then  be  entered  in  the 
celestial ;  and  there  going  over  all  the  circles  again,  with 
a  more  particular  observation  of  the  echptic  or  zodiac, 
to  fix  them  all  very  clearly  and  distinctly  in  his  mind, 
he  may  be  taught  the  figure  and  position  of  the  several 
constellations  which  may  be  showed  him  first  upon  the 
globe,  and  then  in  the  heavens. 

Astronomy. — When  that  is  done,  and  he  knows  pretty 
well  the  constellations  of  this  our  hemisphere,  it  may  be 
time  to  give  him  some  notions  of  this  our  planetary 
world,  and  to  that  purpose  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  make 
him  a  draught  of  the  Copernican  system  :  and  therein 
explain  to  him  the  situation  of  the  planets,  their  respec- 
tive distances  from  the  sun,  the  centre  of  their  revolu- 
tions. This  will  prepare  him  to  understand  the  motion 
and  theory  of  the  planets,  the  most  easy  and  natural 
way.  For  since  astronomers  no  longer  doubt  of  the 
motion  of  the  planets  about  the  sun,  it  is  fit  he  should 
proceed  upon  that  hypothesis,  which  is  not  only  the 
simplest  and  least  perplexing  for  a  learner,  but  also  the 
likehest  to  be  true  in  itself.J  But  in  this,  as  in  all  other 
parts  of  instruction,  great  care  must  be  taken  with 
children,  to  begin  with  that  which  is  plain  and  simple,^ 
and  to  teach  them  as  little  as  can  be  at  once,  and  settle 
that  well  in  their  heads,  before  you  proceed  to  the  next, 
or  anything  new  in  that  science.  Give  them  first  one 
simple  idea,  and  see  that  they  take  it  right,  and  perfectly 
comprehend  it,  before  you  go  any  farther ;  and  then  add 
some  other  simple  idea,  which  Hes  next  in  your  way  to 
what  you  aim  it ;  and  so  proceeding  by  gentle  and  in- 

^  Seven  lines  in  the  first  edition  are  here  replaced  by  the  longer 
passage  below,  in  square  brackets,  from  a  later  edition.  Cf.  Con- 
duct, sec.  39,  third  paragraph. 

2  A  sound  principle  which  Locke's  recommendations  have  just 
contravened.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Ptolemaic  system  is  not 
dismissed  as  impossible. 


181.  GEOMETEY— 182.  CHRONOLOGY     149 

sensible  steps,  children,  without  confusion  and  amaze- 
ment, will  have  their  understandings  opened,  and  their 
thoughts  extended,  farther  than  could  have  been  expected. 
And  when  any  one  has  learned  any  thing  himself,  there 
is  no  such  way  to  fix  it  in  his  memory,  and  to  encourage 
him  to  go  on  as  to  set  him  to  teach  it  others. 

181.  Geometry. — When  he  has  once  got  such  an 
acquaintance  with  the  globes,  as  is  above-mentioned, 
he  may  be  fit  to  be  tried  a  httle  in  geometry  ;  wherein  I 
think  the  six  first  books  of  EucHd  enough  for  him  to  be 
taught.  For  I  am  in  some  doubt,  whether  more  to  a 
man  of  business^  be  necessary  or  useful;  at  least  if  he 
have  a  genius  and  inchnation  to  it,  being  entered  so  far 
by  his  tutor,  he  will  be  able  to  go  on  of  himself,  without 
a  teacher. 

The  globes  therefore  must  be  studied,  and  that  dili- 
gently, and,  I  think,  may  be  begun  betimes,  if  the  tutor 
will  but  be  careful  to  distinguish,  what  the  child  is  capable 
of  knowing,  and  what  not ;  for  which  this  may  be  a  rule, 
that  perhaps  will  go  a  pretty  way,  viz.,  That  children 
may  be  taught  any  thing  that  falls  under  their 
senses,  especially  their  sight,  as  far  as  their  memories 
only  are  exercised  :  and  thus  a  child  very  young  may 
learn,  which  is  the  equator,  which  the  meridian,  etc., 
which  Europe,  and  which  England  upon  the  globes,  as 
soon  almost  as  he  knows  the  rooms  of  the  house  he  lives 
in  ;■  if  care  be  taken  not  to  teach  him  too  much  at  once, 
nor  to  set  him  upon  a  new  part  till  that,  which  he  is 
upon,  be  perfectly  learned  and  fixed  in  his  memory. ^ 

182.^  Chronology. — With  geography,  chronology  ought 
to  go  hand  in  hand  ;  I  mean  the  general  part  of  it,  so  that 
he  may  have  in  his  mind  a  view  of  the  whole  current  of 
time,  and  the  several  considerable  epochs  that  are  made 
use  of  in  history.  Without  these  two,  history,  which  is 
the  great  mistress  of  prudence,  and  civil  knowledge ;  and 
ought  to  be  the  proper  study  of  a  gentleman,  or  man  of 
business  in  the  world  ;  without  geography  and  chronology, 

^  Man  of  affairs,  public  man.         ^  gge  note  to  sec.  178,  p.  147. 
^  Sec.  172  in  first  edition. 


160         THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

I  say,  history,  will  be  very  ill  retained,  and  very  little 
useful ;  but  be  only  a  jumble  of  matters  of  fact,  confusedly 
heaped  together  without  order  or  instruction.  It  is  by 
these  two,  that  the  actions  of  mankind  are  ranked  into 
their  proper  places  of  times  and  countries  ;  under  which 
circumstances,  they  are  not  only  much  easier  kept  in 
the  memory,  but  in  that  natural  order,  are  only  capable 
to  afford  those  observations  which  make  a  man  the  better 
and  the  abler  for  reading  them.^ 

183.2  When  I  speak  of  chronology  as  a  science  he 
should  be  perfect  in,  I  do  not  mean  the  httle  contro- 
versies that  are  in  it.  These  are  endless,  and  most  of 
them  of  so  little  importance  to  a  gentleman,  as  not  to 
deserve  to  be  inquired  into,  were  they  capable  of  an  easy 
decision.  And  therefore  all  that  learned  noise  and  dust 
of  the  chronologist  is  wholly  to  be  avoided.  The  most 
useful  book  I  have  seen  in  that  part  of  learning,  is  a  small 
treatise  of  Strauchius,  which  is  printed  in  twelves,  under 
the  title  of  "  Breviarium  Chronologicum,"  out  of  which 
may  be  selected  all  that  is  necessary  to  be  taught  a  young 
gentleman  concerning  chronology ;  for  all  that  is  in  that 
treatise,  a  learner  need  not  be  cumbered  with.  He  has 
in  him  the  most  remarkable  or  usual  epochs  reduced  all 
to  that  of  the  Julian  period,  which  is  the  easiest  and 
plainest  and  surest  method  that  can  be  made  use  of  in 
chronology.  To  this  treatise  of  Strauchius,  Helvicus's  tables 
may  be  added,  as  a  book  to  be  turned  to  on  all  occasions.^ 

^  These  considerations  are  usually  forgotten  by  those  who 
deprecate  the  learning  of  "  dates." 

2  Sec.  172  in  first  edition. 

3  Both  authors  are  recommended  for  the  reading  of  Cambridge 
men  in  their  first  year,  by  Robert  Green  (1707).  Christopher  Helwig 
(1581-1617),  professor  at  Giessen  and  critic  of  Ratke,  wrote  Theatrum 
Historicum  sive  Chronologice  systema  novum  ...  a  mundi  origine 
ad  .  .  .  annum  1609,  a  series  of  tables  intended  to  give  the  kind 
of  information  to  be  found  in  Mr.  Gooch's  well-known  Annals  of 
Politics  and  Culture.  There  were  many  subsequent  editions, 
brought  down  to  date.  An  English  folio  edition  appeared  in  1687. 
Giles  Strauch,  professor  at  Wittenberg,  wrote  Breviarium  Chronologi- 
cum, a  treatise  on  chronology,  which  appeared  in  English,  translated 
"  from  the  third  edition,"  in  1699,  a  volume  of  nearly  500  pages. 


184.  HISTORY— 185.  ETHICS— 186.  CIVIL  LAW     151 

184.  History. — As  nothing  teaches,  so  nothing  dehghts, 
more  than  history.  The  first  of  these  recommends  it 
to  the  study  of  grown  men,  the  latter  makes  me  think 
it  the  fittest  for  a  young  lad,  who,  as  soon  as  he  is  in- 
structed in  chronology,  and  acquainted  with  the  several 
epochs  in  use  in  this  part  of  the  world,  and  can  reduce 
them  to  the  Julian  period,  should  then  have  some  Latin 
history  put  into  his  hand.  The  choice  should  be  directed 
by  the  easiness  of  the  style ;  for  wherever  he  begins, 
chronology  will  keep  it  from  confusion  ;  and  the  pleasant- 
ness of  the  subject  inviting  him  to  read,  the  language 
will  insensibly  be  got,  without  that  terrible  vexation  and 
uneasiness,  which  children  suffer  where  they  are  put  into 
books  beyond  their  capacity,  such  as  are  the  Eoman 
orators  and  poets,  only  to  learn  the  Koman  language. 
When  he  has  by  reading  mastered  the  easier,  such  perhaps 
as  Justin,  Eutropius,  Quintus  Curtius,^  etc.,  the  next 
degree  to  these  will  give  him  no  great  trouble,  and  thus 
by  a  gradual  progress  from  the  plainest  and  easiest 
historians,  he  may  at  last  come  to  read  the  most  difficult 
and  sublime  of  the  Latin  authors,  such  as  are  Tully,^ 
Virgil^and  Horace.    >v<r>    t   --^i^A— ^ ^- 

185.  Ethics. — The  knowledge  of  virtue,  all  along  from 
the  beginning,  in  all  the  instances  he  is  capable  of,  being 
taught  him,  more  by  practice  than_rulea-;  and  the  love 
of  reputation,  instead  of  satisfying  his  appetite,  being 
m-ade  habitual  in  him  ;  I  know  not  whether  he  shoiild ' 
read  any  other  discourses  of  morality  but  what  he  finds 
in  the  Bible  ;  or  have  any  system  of  ethics  put  into  his 
hand,  till  he  can  read  TuUy's  Offices,  not  as  a  school-boy 
to  learn  Latin,  but  as  one  that  would  be  informed  in  the 
principles  and  precepts  of  virtue  for  the  conduct  of  his 
fife. 

186.  Civil  Law. — When  he  has  pretty  well  digested 
Tully's  Ofiices  [and  added  to  it  "  Puffendorf  de  officio 
hominis  et  civis,"]  it  may  be  seasonable  to  set  him  upon 

*  See  note,  sec.  168.     All  three  are  historical  compilers  ;  the  pre- 
cise date  of  the  last  is  disputed,  but  it  falls  within  the  Christian  era. 
2  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero. 


152         THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

*'  Grotius  de  jure  belli  et  pacis,"  or,  which  perhaps  is 
the  better  of  the  two,  "  Puffendorf  de  jure  naturah  et 
gentium,"^  wherein  he  will  be  instructed  in  the  natural 
rights  of  men,  and  the  original  and  foundations  of  society, 
and  the  duties  resulting  from  thence.  This  general  part 
of  civil  law  and  history,  are  studies  which  a  gentleman 
should  not  barely  touch  at,  but  constantly  dwell  upon 
and  never  have  done  with.  A  virtuous  and  well-behaved 
young  man,  that  is  well  versed  in  the  general  part 
of  the  civil  law  (which  concerns  not  the  chicane  of 
private  cases,  but  the  affairs  and  intercourse  of  civil- 
ized nations  in  general,  grounded  upon  principles  of 
reason),  understands  Latin  well,  and  can  write  a  good 
hand,  one  may  turn  loose  into  the  world,  with  great 
assurance  that  he  will  find  employment  and  esteem 
every  where.^ 

187.  Law. — It  would  be  strange  to  suppose  an  Enghsh 
gentleman  should  be  ignorant  of  the  law  of  his  country. 
This,  whatever  station  he  is  in,  is  so  requisite  that  from 
a  justice  of  the  peace  to  a  minister  of  state,  I  know  no 
place  he  can  well  fill  without  it.  I  do  not  mean  the 
chicane  or  wrangling  and  captious  part  of  the  law ;  a 
gentleman  whose  business  it  is  to  seek  the  true  measures 
of  right  and  wrong,  and  not  the  arts  how  to  avoid  doing 
the  one  and  secure  himself  in  doing  the  other,  ought  to 
be  as  far  from  such  a  study  of  the  law,  as  he  is  concerned 
■  diligently  to  apply  himself  to  that  wherein  he  may  be 
serviceable  to  his  country.  And  to  that  purpose  I  think 
the  right  way  for  a  gentleman  to  study  our  law,  which 
he  does  not  design  for  his  calhng,  is  to  take  a  view  of  our 
English  constitution  and  government,  in  the  ancient 
books  of  the  common  law,  and  some  more  modern  writers, 

^  Two  early  writers  on  International  Law:  Hugo  Grotius  (1583- 
1645),  On  the  Law  of  War  and  Peace,  1625;  Samuel  Puffendorf 
(1632-1694),  On  Natural  Law  and  the  Law  of  Nations,  1672,  and  its 
abridgement,  De  Officio  hominis  et  civis  juxta  legem  naturalem  (1673) 
— On  the  Duty  of  a  Man  and  Citizen  in  respect  of  the  Law  of 
Nature. 

2  In  Locke's  opinion,  the  education  of  the  sixteenth  century  still 
retained  justification. 


187.  LAW— 188,  189.  RHETORIC,  LOGIC  153 

who  out  of  them  have  given  an  account  of  this  govern- 
ment. And  having  got  a  true  idea  of  that,  then  to  read 
our  history,  and  with  it  join  in  every  king's  reign  the 
laws  then  made.  This  will  give  an  insight  into  the 
reason  of  our  statutes,  and  show  the  true  ground  upon 
which  they  came  to  be  made,  and  what  weight  they  ought 
to  have.^ 
^  188.2  Bhetoric,  Logic. — Ehetoric  and  logic  being  the 
arts,  that  in  the  ordinary  method  usually  follow  imme- 
diately after  gramniar,  it  may  perhaps  be  wondered  that 
I  have  said  so  httle  of  them.  The  reason  is,  because  of 
the  little  advantage  young  people  receive  by  them  ;  for 
I  have  seldom  or  never  observed  any  one  to  get  the  skill 
of  reasoning  well,  or  speaking  handsomely  by  studying 
those  rules  which  pretend  to  teach  it  :^  and  therefore  I 
would  have  a  young  gentleman  take  a  view  of  them  in 
the  shortest  systems  that  could  be  found  without  dwell- 
ing long  on  the  contemplation  and  study  of  those  form- 
ahties.  Eight  reasoning  is  founded  on  something  else 
than  the  predicaments  and  predicables,  and  does  not 
consist  in  talking  in  mode  and  figure  itself.  But  it  is 
beside  my  present  business  to  enlarge  upon  this  specula- 
tion. To  come  therefore  to  what  we  have  in  hand  ;  if 
you  would  have  your  son  reason  well,  let  him  read 
Chilhngworth  ;  ^  and  if  you  would  have  him  speak  well, 
let  him  be  conversant  in  Tully,  to  give  him  the  true  idea 
of  eloquence,  and  let  him  read  those  things  that  are  well 
written  in  Enghsh,  to  perfect  his  style  in  the  purity  of 
our  language. 

189.''  If  the  use  and  end  of  right  reasoning  be  to  have 
right  notions,  and  a  right  judgment  of  things,  to  distin- 

^  In  Locke's  day,  and  later,  residence  at  one  of  the  Inns  of  Court 
was  regarded  as  a  suitable  completion  of  general  education. 

^  Sec.  177  in  first  edition. 

3  Cf.  sec.  166  and  Conduct,  sees.  4,  6,  31,  43,  44.      It  had  been 
Locke's  duty  at  Oxford  to  teach  logic  to  junior  under- graduates. 

*  Wm.   Chillingworth  (1602-1644)   embraced   and  then  abjured 
Catholicism,  against  which  he  wrote  in  The  Religion  of  Protestants 
a  Safe  Way  of  Salvation,  1638. 
■     s  Sec.  177  in  first  edition. 


154         THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

guish  betwixt  truth  and  falsehood,  right  and  wrong,  and 
to  act  accordingly,  be  sure  not  to  let  your  son  be  bred 
up  in  the  art  and  formality  of  disputing,  either  practising 
it  himself,  or  admiring  it  in  others  ;  unless,  instead  of  an 
able  man,  you  desire  to  have  him  an  insignificant  wrangler, 
opiniator^  in  discourse,  and  priding  himself  in  contra- 
dicting others ;  or  which  is  worse,  questioning  every  thing, 
and  thinking  there  is  no  such  thing  as  truth  to  be  sought, 
but  only  victory,  in  disputing.  [For  this,  in  short,  is 
the  way  and  perfection  of  logical  disputes,  that  the 
opponent  never  takes  any  answer,  nor  the  respondent 
ever  yields  to  any  argument.  This  neither  of  them  must 
do,  whatever  becomes  of  truth  or  knowledge,  unless  he 
will  pass  for  a  poor  bafHed  wretch,  and  lie  under  the 
disgrace  of  not  being  able  to  maintain  whatever  he  has 
once  affirmed,  which  is  the  great  aim  and  glory  in  dis- 
puting.] Truth  is  to  be  found  and  supported  by  a 
mature  and  due  consideration  of  things  themselves,  and 
not  by  artificial  terms  and  ways  of  arguing :  which  lead 
not  men  so  much  into  the  discovery  of  truth,  as  into  a 
captious  and  fallacious  use  of  doubtful  words,  which  is 
the  most  useless  and  disingenuous  way  of  talking,  and 
most  unbecoming  a  gentleman  or  a  lover  of  truth  of 
any  thing  in  the  world. ^ 

[There  can  scarce  be  a  greater  defect  in  a  gentleman 
than  not  to  express  himself  well,  either  in  wanting  or 
speaking.  But  yet,  I  think,  I  may  ask  my  reader. 
Whether  he  doth  not  know  a  great  many,  who  live  upon  their 
estates,  and  so,  with  the  name,  should  have  the  qualities 
of  gentlemen,  who  cannot  so  much  as  tell  a  story  as  they 
should,  much  less  speak  clearly  and  persuasively  in  any 
business  ?  This  I  think  not  to  be  so  much  their  fault, 
as  the  fault  of  their  education ;  for  I  must,  without 
partiality,  do  my  countrymen  this  right,  that  where  they 
apply  themselves,  I  see  none  of  their  neighbours  outgo 

^  One  who  stands  stiffly  by  his  own  opinion. 

2  The  remainder  of  the  section  is  invaluable  in  reference  to  the 
method  of  teaching  the  mother-tongue.  See,  also,  sees.  168, 171, 
172. 


CV 


r 

189.  RHETOEIC  155 

them.  They  have  been  taught  rhetoric,  but  yet  never 
taught  how  to  express  themselves  handsomely  with  their 
tongues,  or  pens,  in  the  language  they  are  always  to  use  ; 
as  if  the  names  of  the  figures^  that  embelhshed  the  dis- 
courses of  those  who  understood  the  art  of  speaking, 
were  the  very  art  and  skill  of  speaking  well.  This,  as 
all  other  things  of  practice,  is  to  be  learned  not  by  a  few 
or  a  great  many  rules  given,  but  by  exercise  and  applica- 
tion, according  to  good  rules,  or  rather  patterns,  till  habits 
are  got,  and  a  facility  of  doing  it  well. 

Agreeable  hereunto,  perhaps  it  might  not  be  amiss,  to 
make  children,  as  soon  as  they  are  capable  of  it,  often 
to  teiraTstory  of  any  thing_tbey  l^riow  ;  and  to  correct  at 
first  the  most  remarkable  fault  they  are  guilty  of,  in  their 
way  of  putting  it  together.  When  that  fault  is  cured, 
then  to  show  them  the  next,  and  so  on,  till  one  after 
another,  all,  at  least  the  gross  ones,  are  mended.  When 
they  can  tell  tales  pretty  well,  then  it  may  be  time  to 
make  them  write  them.  The  fables  of  ^sop,  the  only 
book  almost  that  I  know  fit  for  children,  may  afford 
them  matter  for  this  exercise  of  writing  English,  as  well 
as  for  reading  and  translating,  to  enter  them  in  the 
Latin  tongue.  When  they  are  got  past  the  faults  of 
grammar,  and  can  join  in  a  continued,  coherent  discourse 
the  several  parts  of  a  story,  without  bald  and  unhand- 
some forms  of  transition  (as  is  usual)  often  repeated  ;  he 
that  desires  to  perfect  them  yet  farther  in  this,  which 
is  the  first  step  to  speaking  well,  and  needs  no  invention, 
may  have  recourse  to  Tully  ;  and  by  putting  in^^actice 
^^ose  rules^  which  that  master  of  eloquence  gives  in  his 
Brst  book  "  De  Inventione,"  section  20,  make  them 
know  wherein  the  skill  and  graces  of  a  handsome  narrative, 
according  to  the  several  subjects  and  designs  of  it,  lie. 
Of  each  of  which  rules  fit  examples  may  be  found  out, 
and  therein  they  may  be  shown  how  others  have  prac- 
tised them.  The  ancient  classic  authors  afford  plenty 
of  such  examples,  which  they  should  be  made  not  only 

^  Such  rhetorical  terms  as  "  hyperbole,"  "  meiosis,"  "  hysteron- 
proteron,"  etc. 


156         THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

to  translate,  but  have  set  before  them  as  patterns  for  their 
daily  imitation. 

When  they  understand  how  to  write  English  with  due 
connection,  propriety,  and  order,  and  are  pretty  well 
masters   of   a   tolerable   narrative   style,    they   may   be 

y.  y      advanced  to  writing  of  letters  ;  wherein  they  should  not 
'       be  put  upon  any  strams  of  wit  or  compliment,  but  taught 
to  express  their  own  plain  easy  sense,  without  any  incohe- 
rence,   confusion,    or    roughness.     And    when    they    are 
perfect  in  this,  they  may,  to  raise  their  thoughts,  have 

'^\    setbefore_ikem_  the^xample^^M^^  for  the  enter- 

-^  tamment  of  their  friends  at  a  distance,  with  letters  of 
compliment,  mirth,  raillery,  or  diversion ;  and  Tully's 
epistles,  as  the  best  pattern,  whether  for  business  or 
conversation.  The  writing  of  letters  has  so  much  to  do 
in  all  the  occurrences  of  human  hfe,  that  no  gentleman 
can  avoid  showing  himself  in  this  kind  of  writing ;  occa- 
sions will  daily  force  him  to  make  this  use  of  his  pen, 
which,  besides  the  consequences,  that,  in  his  affairs,  his 
well  or  ill  managing  of  it  often  draws  after  it,  always  lays 
him  open  to  a  severer  examination  of  his  breeding,  sense, 
and  abilities,  than  oral  discourses  ;  whose  transient  faults, 
dying  for  the  most  part  with  the  sound  that  gives  them 
hfe,  and  so  not  subjec"  to  a  strict  review,  more  easily 
escape  observation  and  censure. 

Had  the  methods  of  education  been  directed  to  their 
right  end,  one  would  have  thought  this,  so  necessary  a 
part,  could  not  have  been  neglected,  whilst  themes  and 
verses  in  Latin,  of  no  use  at  all,  were  so  constantly 
everywhere  pressed,  to  the  racking  of  children's  inven- 
tions beyond  their  strength,  and  hindering  their  cheerful 
progress  in  learning  the  tongues,  by  unnatural  difficulties. 
But  custom  has  so  ordained  it,  and  who  dares  disobey  ? 
And  would  it  not  be  very  unreasonable  to  require  of  a 
learned  country  school-master  (who  has  all  the  tropes 

^  Vincent  Voiture  (1598-1648),  society  letter-writer  and  versifier, 
whose  letters  were  highly  valued  far  beyond  the  RambouiUet  circle 
for  whom  they  were  penned.  See  G.  Lanson,  Histoire  de  la  Littera- 
ture  Fran^aise,  p.  385. 


189.  RHETORIC  157 

and  figures  in  Farnaby's^  Ehetoric  at  his  fingers'  end)  to 
teach  his  scholar  to  express  himself  handsomely  in 
English,  when  it  appears  to  be  so  little  his  business  or 
thought,  that  the  boy's  mother  (despised,  it  is  like,  as 
illiterate,  for  not  having  read  a  system  of  logic  and 
rhetoric)  outdoes  him  in  it  ? 

To  write  and  speak  correctly,  gives  a  grace,  and  gains 
a  favourable  attention  to  what  one  has  to  say  :  and  since 
it  is  English  that  an  English  gentleman  will  have  con- 
stant use  of,  that  is  the  language  he  should  chiefly  culti- 
vate, and  wherein  most  care  should  be  taken  to  polish 
and  perfect  his  style.  To  speak  or  write  better  Latin 
than  English,  may  make  a  man  be  talked  of  ;  but  he 
would  find  it  more  to  his  purpose  to  express  himself  well 
in  his  own  tongue,  that  he  uses  every  moment,  than  to 
have  the  vain  commendation  of  others  for  a  very  insignifi- 
cant quality.  This  I  find  universally  neglected,  and  no 
care  taken  anywhere  to  improve  young  men  in  their  own 
language,  that  they  may  thoroughly  understand  and  be 
masters  of  it.  If  any  one  among  us  have  a  facility  or 
purity  more  than  ordinary  in  his  mother- tongue,  it  is 
owing  to  chance  or  his  genius,  or  any  thing,  rather  than 
to  his  education,  or  any  care  of  his  teacher.  To  mind 
what  Enghsh  his  pupil  speaks  or  writes,  is  below  the 
dignity  of  one  bred  up  amongst  Greek  and  Latin,  though 
-he  have  but  little  of  them  himself.  These  are  the  learned 
languages,  fit  only  for  learned  men  to  meddle  with  and 
teach  ;  English  is  the  language  of  the  illiterate  vulgar  ; 
though  yet  we  see  the  polity  of  some  of  our  neighbours  hath 
not  thought  it  beneath  the  public  care,  to  promote  and 
reward  the  improvement  of  their  own  language.^    Polish- 

*  The  Index  Rhetoricus  (1625),  a  small  Latin  textbook  by  Thomas 
Farnaby  (1575[?]-1647),  gentleman  adventurer  with  Drake  and 
Hawkins,  classical  scholar  and  distinguished  private  schoolmaster 
in  London.  For  the  Index  Rhetoricus,  see  Foster  Watson,  The 
English  Grammar  Schools,  p.  443. 

2  Locke  may  be  thinking  more  particularly  of  the  Academie 
FranQaise  (founded,  1634-1637),  which  began  to  publish  its  great 
Dictionary  in  1694.  Academies,  or  societies  to  encourage  the 
literary  doveJcj: ir.ent  cf  TemaciL^ars,  steadily  increased  after  the 


158  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

ing  and  enriching  their  tongue,  is  no  small  business 
amongst  them  ;  it  hath  colleges  and  stipends  appointed 
it,  and  there  is  raised  amongst  them  a  great  ambition 
and  emulation  of  writing  correctly  :  and  wo  see  what  they 
are  come  to  by  it,  and  how  far  they  have  spread  one  of 
the  worst  languages  possibly,  in  this  part  of  the  world, 
if  we  look  upon  it  as  it  was  in  some  few  reigns  backwards, 
whatever  it  be  now.  The  great  men  amongst  the  Romans 
were  daily  exercising  themselves  in  their  own  language  ; 
and  we  find  yet  upon  record,  the  names  of  orators,  who 
taught  some  of  their  emperors  Latin,  though  it  were 
their  mother- tongue. 

It  is  plain  the  Greeks  were  yet  more  nice  in  theirs  ;  all 
other  speech  was  barbarous  to  them  but  their  own,  and 
no  foreign  language  appears  to  have  been  studied  or 
valued  amongst  that  learned  and  acute  people  ;  though 
it  be  past  doubt,  that  they  borrowed  their  learning  and 
philosophy  from  abroad. 

I  am  not  here  speaking  against  Greek  and  Latin  :  I 
think  they  ought  to  be  studied,  and  the  Latin,  at  least, 
understood  well  by  every  gentleman.  But  whatever 
foreign  languages  a  young  man  meddles  with  (and  the 
more  he  knows  the  better),  that  which  he  should  critically 
study,  and  labour  to  get  a  facility,  clearness,  and  elegancy 
to  express  himself  in,  should  be  his  own,  and  to  this 
purpose  he  should  daily  be  exercised  in  it.] 

190.1  ]\[atural  Philo.sojjhy. — Natural  philosophy,  as  a 
speculative  science,  I  imagine  we  have  none,  and  perhaps 
I  may  think  I  have  reason  to  say  we  never  shall.  The 
works  of  nature  are  contrived  by  a  ^\isdom,  and  operate 
by  ways  too  far  surpassing  our  faculties  to  discover,  or 
capacities  to  conceive,  for  us  ever  to  be  able  to  reduce 
them  into  a  science.  Natural  philosophy  being  the 
knowledge  of  the  principles,  properties,  and  operations  of 


foundation  of  the  Florentine  Accademia  de  la  Crusca  (1582).    Outside 
Italy,  the  best-known  are  the  Fruchtbringende   Gesellschaft    at 
Anhalt  Kothen  (1617)  and  the  Academic  Frangiise. 
^  Sec.  177  in  first  edition. 


190.  NATURAL  PHILOSOPHY— 191.  SPIRITS      159 

things,  as  they  are  in  themselves,  I  imagine  there  are 
two  parts  of  it,  one  comprehending  Spirits  with  their 
nature  and  quahties  ;  and  the  other  Bodies.^  The  first 
of  these  is  usually  referred  to  metaphysics  :  but  under 
what  title  soever  the  consideration  of  spirits,  comes,  I 
think  it  ought  to  go  before  the  study  of  mattgr  and  body, 
not  as  a  science  that  can  be  methodized  into  a  system, 
and  treated  of  upon  principles  of  knowledge  ;  but  as  an 
enlargement  of  our  minds  towards  a  truer  and  fuller 
comprehension  of  the  intellectual  world,  to  which  we  are 
led  both  by  reason  and  revelation.  And  since  the 
clearest  and  largest  discoveries  we  have  of  otheFspirits, 
besides  God  and  our  own  souls,  is  imparted  to  us  from 
heaven  by  revelation,  I  think  the  information  that  at 
least  young  people  should  have  of  them,  should  be  taken 
from  that  revelation.  To  this  purpose,  I  conclude  it 
would  be  well  if  there  were  made  a  good  history  of  the 
Bible  for  young  people  to  read  ;  wherein  every  thing  that 
is  fit  to  be  put  into  it  being  laid  down  in  its  due  order  of 
time,  and  several  things  omitted  which  were  suited  only 
to  riper  age,  that  confusion  which  is  usually  produced  by 
promiscuous  reading  of  the  Scripture,  as  it  lies  now  bound 
up  in  our  Bibles,  would  be  avoided  ;  and  also  this  other 
good  obtained,  that  by  reading  of  it  constantly,  there 
would  be  instilled  into  the  minds  of  children  a  notion 
and  belief  of  spirits,  they  having  so  much  to  do,  in  all 
the-  transactions  of  that  history,  which  will  be  a  good 
preparation  to  the  study  of  bodies.  For  without  the 
notion  and  allowance  of  spirit,  our  philosophy  will  be 
lame  and  defective  in  one  main  part  of  it,  when  it  leaves 
out  the  contemplation  of  the  most  excellent  and  powerful 
part  of  the  creation. 

191.^  Of  this  history  of  the  Bible,  I  think,  too,  it 
would  be  well  if  there  were  a  short  and  plain  epitome 

^  A  doctrine  scarcely  to  be  expected  from  one  of  the  leaders  in 
modern  scientific  thought.  It  is  instructive  to  note  that  Locke 
refuses  to  conceive  a  natural  philosophy  apart  from  metaphysics ; 
yet  his  psychology  shook  itself  free  from  metaphysic.      See  sec.  193. 

^  Sec.  179  in  first  edition,  which  has  no  section  numbered  178. 


160  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

made,  containing  the  chief  and  most  material  heads  for 
children  to  be  conversant  in,  as  soon  as  they  can  read. 
Tliis,  though  it  will  lead  them  early  in  some  notion  of 
spirits,  yet  is  not  contrary  to  what  I  said  above,  that  I 
would  not  have  children  troubled  whilst  young  with 
notions  of  spirits  ;  whereby  my  meaning  was  that  I  think 
it  inconvenient  that  their  yet  tender  minds  should  receive 
early  impressions  of  goblins,  spectres,  and  apparitions, 
wherewith  their  maids  and  those  about  them  are  apt  to 
fright  them  into  a  comphance  with  their  orders,  which 
often  proves  a  great  inconvenience  to  them  all  their  lives 
after,  by  subjecting  their  minds  to  frights,  fearful  appre- 
hensions, weakness,  and  superstition  ;  wliich,  when  com- 
ing abroad  into  the  world  and  conversation,  they  grow 
weary  and  ashamed  of,  it  not  seldom  happens,  that  to 
make,  as  they  think,  a  thorough  cure,  and  ease  themselves 
of  a  load,  [which]  has  sat  so  heavy  on  them,  they  throw 
away  the  thoughts  of  all  spirits  together,  and  so  run  into 
the  other  but  worse  extreme.^ 

192.  The  reason  why  I  would  have  this  premised  to 
the  study  of  bodies,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures 
well  imbibed,  before  young  men  be  entered  in  natural 
philosophy,  is,  because  matter  being  a  thing  that  all  our 
senses  are  constantly  conversant  with,  it  is  so  apt  to 
possess  the  mind,  and  exclude  all  other  beings  but  matter, 
that  prejudice,  grounded  on  such  principles,  often  leaves 
no  room  for  the  admittance  of  spirits,  or  the  allowing 
any  such  things  as  immaterial  beings,  "  in  rerum  natura;^ 
when  yet  it  is  evident,  that  by  mere  matter  and  motion, 
none  of  the  great  phenomena  of  nature  can  be  resolved  :  to 
instance  but  in  that  common  one  of  gravity ;  ^  which  I 
think  impossible  to  be  explained  by  any  natural  operation 
of  matter,  or  any  other  law  of  motion,  but  the  positive 
will  of  a  superior  Being  so  ordering  it.  And  therefore 
since  the  Deluge  cannot  be  well  explained,  without  ad- 
mitting something  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature, 
I  propose  it  to  be  considered,  whether  God's  altering  the 

^  See  sec.  137.  ^  "  In  the  nature  of  things." 

3  See  sec.  194. 


192.  SPIRITS— 193.  NATURAL  PHILOSOPHY       161 

centre  of  gravity  in  the  earth  for  a  time  (a  -thing  as 
intelhgible  as  gravity  it  self,  which  perhaps  a  httle  varia- 
tion of  causes,  unknown  to  us,  would  produce)  will  not 
more  easily  account  for  Noah's  flood,  than  any  hypo- 
thesis yet  made  use  of  to  solve  it.^  I  hear  the  great 
objection  to  this  is,  that  it  would  produce  but  a  partial 
deluge.  But  this  I  mention  by  the  by,  to  shew  the 
necessity  of  having  recourse  to  something  beyond  bare 
matter,  and  its  motion,  in  the  explication  of  nature  ;  to 
which  the  notions  of  spirits,  and  their  power,  as  delivered 
in  the  Bible,  where  so  much  is  attributed  to  their  opera- 
tion, may  be  a  fit  preparative ;  reserving  to  a  fitter 
opportunity  a  fuller  explication  of  this  hypothesis,  and 
the  application  of  it  to  all  the  parts  of  the  Deluge,  and 
any  difficulties  [that]  can  be  supposed  in  the  history  of 
the  Flood,  as  recorded  in  the  Bible. 

193.  But  to  return  to  the  study  of  natural  philosophy  : 
though  the  world  be  full  of  systems  of  it,  yet  I  cannot 
say,  I  know  any  one  which  can  be  taught  a  young  man 
as  a  science,  wherein  he  may  be  sure  to  find  truth  and 
certainty,  which  is  what  all  sciences  give  an  expectation 
of,2  I  do  not  hence  conclude,  that  none  of  them  are  to 
be  read  ;  it  is  necessary  for  a  gentleman,  in  this  learned 
age,  to  look  into  some  of  them  to  fit  himself  for  conversa- 
tion :  but  whether  that  of  Des  Cartes  be  put  into  his 
hands,  as  that  which  is  most  in  fashion,  or  it  be  thought 
fit'  to  give  him  a  short  view  of  that  and  several  others 
also  ;  I  think  the  systems  of  natural  philosophy,  that 
have  obtained  in  this  part  of  the  world,  are  to  be  read 
more  to  know  the  hypotheses,  and  to  understand  the 
terms  and  ways  of  talking  of  the  several  sects,^  than  with 
hopes  to  gain  thereby  a  comprehensive,  scientific,  and 
satisfactory  knowledge  of  the  works  of  Nature ;   only 

^  An  oblique  reference  to  Thomas  Burnet's  fantastic  notions 
displayed  in  his  Theory  of  the  Earth  (1684). 

2  See  sec.  190,  and  Essay,  iv.,  chap,  iii.,  sec.  26.  Cf.  Intro- 
duction, p.  10. 

2  "  Schools."  Cf.  Conduct,  sec.  3  (at  close).  This  fitting  one's 
self  "  for  conversation  "  is  condemned  in  Conduct.,  sec.  19. 

11 


162  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

this  may  be  said,  that  the  modern  Corpuscularians  talk, 
in  most  things,  more  intelligibly  than  the  Peripatetics, 
who  possessed  the  schools  immediately  before  them.^ 
He  that  would  look  farther  back,  and  acquaint  himself 
with  the  several  opinions  of  the  ancients,  may  consult 
Dr.  Cudworth's  Intellectual  System ;  ^  wherein  that  very 
learned  author  hath,  with  such  accurateness  and  judg- 
ment, collected  and  explained  the  opinions  of  the  Greek 
philosophers,  that  what  principles  they  built  on,  and 
what  were  the  chief  hypotheses  that  divided  them,  is 
better  to  be  seen  in  him  than  anywhere  else  that  I  know. 
But  I  would  not  deter  any  one  from  the  study  of  nature, 
because  all  the  knowledge  we  have,  or  possibly  can  have 
of  it,  cannot  be  brought  into  a  science.  There  are  very 
many  things  in  it,  that  are  convenient  and  necessary  to 
be  known  to  a  gentleman ;  and  a  great  many  other,  that 
will  abundantly  reward  the  pains  of  the  curious  with 
delight  and  advantage.  But  these,  I  think,  are  rather 
to  be  found  amongst  such  writers  as  have  employed 
themselves  in  making  rational  experiments  and  observa- 
tions, than  in  starting  barely  speculative  systems.  Such 
writings,  therefore,  as  many  of  Mr.  Boyle's^  are,  with 
others  that  have  writ  of  husbandry,  planting,  gardening, 
and  the  like,  may  be  fit  for  a  gentleman,  when  he  has  a 
little  acquainted  himself  with  some  of  the  systems  of 
the  natural  philosophy  in  fashion. 

194.  Though  the  systems  of  physic[s]  that  I  have  met 
with,  afford  little  encouragement  to  look  for  certainty, 
or  science,  in  any  treatise,  which  shall  pretend  to  give  us 
a  body  of  natural  philosophy  from  the  first  principles 

^  Cf.  sec.  94  and  Conduct,  sec.  29.  Corpuscularians  like  Descartes 
and  Boyle,  and  Democritus  and  Epicurus  in  ancient  times,  taught 
that  all  phenomena  are  due  to  matter  and  its  extension,  divisibility, 
configuration  and  motion. 

2  Ralph  Cud  worth,  Master  of  Christ's  College,  Cambridge,  pub- 
lished The  True  Intellectual  System  of  the  Universe  in  1678. 

2  Robert  Boyle  (1627-1691),  a  member  of  the  private  society 
(the  "  Invisible  College  "),  which  at  Oxford  and  at  Gresham  College 
and  elsewhere  in  London  prosecuted  experimental  study.  Boyle 
took  a  leading  part  in  founding  the  Royal  Society  (1662). 


194.  NATURAL  PHILOSOPHY— 195.  GREEK       163 

of  bodies  in  general ;  yet  the  incomparable  Mr.  Newton  ^ 
has  shown  how  far  mathematics,  applied  to  some  parts 
of  nature,  may,  upon  principles  that  matter  of  fact 
justify,  carry  us  in  the  knowledge  of  some,  as  I  may  so 
call  them,  particular  provinces  of  the  incomprehensible 
universe.  And  if  others  could  give  us  so  good  and  clear 
an  account  of  other  parts  of  nature,  as  he  has  of  this 
our  planetary  world,  and  the  most  considerable  pheno- 
mena observable  in  it,  in  his  admirable  book  "  Philoso- 
phise naturalis  Principia  mathematica,"^  we  might  in 
time  hope  to  be  furnished  with  more  true  and  certain 
knowledge  in  several  parts  of  this  stupendous  machine, 
than  hitherto  we  could  have  expected.  And  though 
there  are  very  few  that  have  mathematics  enough  to 
understand  his  demonstrations  ;  yet  the  most  accurate 
mathematicians,  who  have  examined  them,  allowing 
them  to  be  such,  his  book  will  deserve  to  be  read,  and 
give  no  small  light  and  pleasure  to  those,  who,  willing 
to  understand  the  motions,  properties,  and  operations  of 
the  great  masses  of  matter  in  this  our  solar  system,  will 
but  carefully  mind  his  conclusions,  which  may  be  de- 
pended on  as  propositions  well  proved. 

195.  Greek. — This  is,  in  short,  what  I  have  thought 
concerning  a  young  gentleman's  studies  ,*  wherein  it  will 
possibly  be  wondered  that  I  should  omit  Greek,  since 
amongst  the  Grecians  is  to  be  found  the  original,  as  it 
were,  and  foundation  of  all  that  learning  which  we  have 
in  this  part  of  the  world.  I  grant  it  so  ;  and  will  add, 
that  no  man  can  pass  for  a  scholar,  that  is  ignorant  of 
the  Greek  tongue.  But  I  am  not  here  considering  of 
the  education  of  a  professed  scholar,  but  of  a  gentleman, 
to  whom  Latin  and  French,  as  the  world  now  goes,  is  by 
every  one  acknowledged  to  be  necessary.  When  he  comes 
to  be  a  man,  if  he  has  a  mind  to  carry  his  studies  farther, 
and  look  into  the  Greek  learning,  he  will  then  easily  get 
that  tongue  himself ;  and  if  he  has  not  that  inclination, 
his  learning  of  it  under  a  tutor  will  be  but  lost  labour, 

1  Isaac  Newton  (1642-1727)  was  not  knighted  till  1705.     The 
Principia  was  published  in  1687. 


164          THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

and  much  of  his  time  and  pains  spent  in  that  which  will 
be  neglected  and  thrown  away  as  soon  as  he  is  at  liberty. 
For  how  many  are  there  of  a  hundred,  even  amongst 
scholars  themselves,  who  retain  the  Greek  they  carried 
from  school ;  or  ever  improve  it  to  a  familiar  reading, 
and  perfect  understanding  of  Greek  authors  ? 

[To  conclude  this  part,  which  concerns  a  young  gentle- 
man's studies,  his  tutor  should  remember,  that  his  business 
is  not  so  much  to  teach  him  all  that  is  knowable,  as  to 
raise  in  him  a  love  and  esteem  of  knowledge ;  and  to  put 
him  in  the  right  way  of  knowing  and  improving  himself, 
when  he  has  a  mind  to  it.] 

Later  editions  here  insert  quotations  from  La  Bruyere 
("  Moeurs  de  ce  Siecle  ")  "  on  the  subject  of  languages." 

Method. — [Order  and  constancy  are  said  to  make  the 
great  difference  between  one  man  and  another ;  this  I 
am  sure,  nothing  so  much  clears  a  learner's  way,  helps 
him  so  much  on  in  it,  and  makes  him  go  so  easy  and 
so  far  in  any  inquiry,  as  a  good  method.  His  governor 
should  take  pains  to  make  him  sensible  of  this,  accustom 
him  to  order,  and  teach  him  method  in  all  the  applica- 
tions of  his  thoughts  ;  show  him  wherein  it  lies,  and  the 
advantages  of  it ;  acquaint  him  with  the  several  sorts 
of  it,  either  from  general  to  particulars,  or  from  par- 
ticulars to  what  is  more  general ;  exercise  him  in 
both  of  them  ;  and  make  him  see,  in  what  cases  each 
different  method  is  most  proper,  and  to  what  ends  it 
best  serves. 

In  history  the  order  of  time  should  govern ;  in  philo- 
sophical inquiries,  that  of  nature,  which  in  all  progression 
is  to  go  from  the  place  one  is  then  in,  to  that  which  joins 
and  lies  next  to  it ;  and  so  it  is  in  the  mind,  from  the 
knowledge  it  stands  possessed  of  already,  to  that  which 
lies  next,  and  is  coherent  to  it,  and  so  on  to  what  it  aims 
at,  by  the  simplest  and  most  uncompounded  parts  it 
can  divide  the  matter  into.  To  this  purpose,  it  will  be 
of  great  use  to  his  pupil  to  accustom  him  to  distinguish 
well,  that  is,  to  have  distinct  notions,  wherever  the  mind 
can  find  any  real  difference ;  but  as  carefully  to  avoid 


196.  DANCING— 197.  MUSIC  165 

distinctions  in  terms,   where  he   has   not   distinct  and 
different  clear  ideas.^] 

•^    196.  Besides  what  is  to  be  had  from  study  and  books,  i 
there  are  other  accompHshments  necessary  to  a  gentle-  | 
man,  to  be  got  by  exercise,  and  to  which  time  is  to  be 
allowed,  ani^or  which  masters  must  be  had. 

Dancing. -fbaincmg  being  that  which  gives  graceful 
motions  all  the  life,  and,  above  all  things,  manliness 
and  a  becoming  confidence  to  young  children,  I  think  it 
cannot  Ibe  learned  too  early,  after  they  are  once  of  an 
age  and  strength  capable  of  it.  But  you  must  be  sure 
to  have  a  good  master,  that  knows,  and  can  teach,  what 
is  graceful  and  becoming,  and  what  gives  a  freedom  and 
easiness  to  all  the  motions  of  the  body.  J  One  that 
teaches  not  this  is  worse  than  none  at  all,  natural  un- 
fashionableness  being  much  better  than  apish,  affected 
postures  ;  and  I  think  it  much  more  passable  to  put  off 
the  hat,  and  make  a  leg,  like  an  honest  country  gentle- 
man, than  like  an  ill-fashioned  dancing-master.  For, 
as  for  the  jigging  part,  and  the  figures  of  dances,  I  count 
that  little  or  nothing  farther  than  as  it  tends  to  perfect 
graceful  carriage. 

197.  Music— Mu^c^is  thought  to  have  some  affinity 
with  dancing,  and  a~good  hand,  upon  some  instruments, 
is  by  many  people  mightily  valued.  But  it  wastes  so 
much  of  a  young  man^  time,  to  gain  but  a  nioderatd 
skill  in  it,  and  engages  often  in  such  odd  company,  that  "^ 

_many_iliink  iii  much  betterisparai^  and  I  have,  amongst 
men  of  parts  and  business,^  so  seldom  heard  any  one 
commended  or  esteemed  for  having  an  excellency  in 
music,  that  amongst  all  those  things,  that  ever  came 

^  Cf.  Conduct,  sec.  39.  "  As  a  clear  idea  is  that  whereof  the  mind 
has  such  a  full  and  evident  perception  as  it  does  receive  from  an 
outward  object  operating  duly  on  a  well-disposed  organ,  so  a  distinct 
idea  is  that  wherein  the  mind  perceives  a  difference  from  all  other  ; 
and  a  confused  idea  is  such  an  one  as  is  not  sufficiently  distinguish- 
able from  another  from  which  it  ought  to  be  distinguished  "  {Essay 
concerning  Human  Understanding,  ii.,  chap.  xxix.).  See  also  the 
"  Epistle  to  the  Reader." 

^  Men  of  afiaiiB,  public  men.     Cf.  note,  sec.  210. 


166         THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

into  the  list  of  accomplishments,  I  think  I  may  give  it 
the  last  place.  Our  short  hves  will  not  serve  us  for  the 
attainment  of  all  things  ;  nor  can  our  minds  be  always 
intent  on  something  to  be  learned.  The  weakness  of 
our  constitutions,  both  of  mind  and  body,  requires  that 
we  should  be  often  unbent :  and  he  that  will  make  a 
good  use  of  any  part  of  his  life,  must  allow  a  large  portion 
of  it  to  recreation.  At  least  this  must  not  be  denied  to 
young  people,  unless,  whilst  you  with  too  much  haste 
make  them  old,  you  have  the  displeasure  to  set  them  in 
their  graves,  or  a  second  childhood,  sooner  than  you 
could  wish.  And  therefore  I  think  that  the  time  and 
pains  allotted  to  serious  improvements  should  be  em- 
ployed about  things  of  most  use  and  consequence,  and 
that  too  in  the  methods  the  most  easy  and  short,  that 
could  be  at  any  rate  obtained  ;  and  perhaps  it  would  be 
none  of  the  least  secrets  of  education  to  make  the  exer- 
cises of  the  body  and  the  mind,  the  recreation  one  to 
another.  I  doubt  not  but  that  something  might  be  done 
in  it,  by  a  prudent  man,  that  would  well  consider  the 
temper  and  incUnation  of  his  pupil.  For  he  that  is 
wearied  either  with  study  or  dancing,  does  not  desire 
presently  to  go  to  sleep  ;  but  to  do  something  else  which 
^  may  divert  and  deHght  him.  But  this  must  be  always 
remembered,  that  nothing  can  come  into  the  account 
of  recreation  that  is  not  done  with  delight. 

198.  Fencing,  and  riding  the  great  horse,^  are  looked 
upon  as  so  necessary  parts  of  breeding,  that  it  would  be 
thought  a  great  omission  to  neglect  them  :  the  latter  of 
the  two,  being  for  the  most  part  to  be  learned  only  in 
great  towns,  is  one  of  the  best  exercises  for  health  which 
is  to  be  had  in  those  places  of  ease  and  luxury  ;  and,  upon 
that  account,  makes  a  fit  part  of  a  young  gentleman's 
employment,  during  his  abode  there.  And,  as  far  as  it 
conduces  to  give  a  man  a  firm  and  graceful  seat  on 
horseback,  and  to  make  him  able  to  teach  his  horse  to 

^  The  management  of  the  charger,  especially  in  military  parade ; 
it  was  one  of  the  chief  aims  of  the  French  academies  to  teach  this. 
See  Introduction. 


199.  FENCING  167 

stop,  and  turn  quick,  and  to  rest  on  his  haunches,  is  of 
use  to  a  gentleman  both  in  peace  and  war.  But,  whether 
it  be  of  moment  enough  to  be  made  a  business  of,  and 
deserve  to  take  up  more  of  his  time  than  should  barely 
for  his  health  be  employed,  at  due  intervals,  in  some 
such  vigorous  exercise,  I  shall  leave  to  the  discretion  of  : 
parents  and  tutors  ;  who  will  do  well  to  remember,  in 
all  the  parts  of  education,  that  most  time  and  appHca- 
tion  is  to  be  bestowed  on  that  which  is  like  to  be  of 
greatest  consequence  and  frequent  use,  in  the  ordinary 
course  and  occurrences  of  that  life  the  young  man  is 
designed  for. 

199.  Fencing. — As  for  fencing,  it  seems  to  me  a  good 
exercise  for  health,  but  dangerous  to  the  life,  the  con- 
fidence of  it  being  apt  to  engage  in  quarrels  those  that 
think  they  have  some  skill,  and  to  make  them  often  more 
touchy  than  needs,  on  points  of  honour,  and  sHght 
provocations.  Young  men  in  their  warm  blood  are 
forward  to  think  they  have  in  vain  learned  to  fence  if 
they  never  show  their  skill  and  courage  in  a  duel ;  and 
they  seem  to  have  reason.  But  how  many  sad  tragedies 
that  reason  has  been  the  occasion  of,  the  tears  of  many 
a  mother  can  witness.^  A  man  that  cannot  fence  will 
be  more  careful  to  keep  out  of  bulhes'  and  gamesters* 
company,  and  will  n'6T~1)e~;^if'"SjO'"apt  to  stand  upon 
punctilios  nor  to  give  affrd^tST  or  fiercely  justify  them 
w^n  given,  which  is  that  which  usually  makes  the 
quarrel.  And  when  a  man  is  in  the  field,  a  moderate 
skill  in  fencing  rather  exposes  him  to  the  sword  of  his 
enemy,  than  secures  him  from  it.  And  certainly  a  man 
of  courage,  who  cannot  fence  at  all,  and  therefore  will 
put  all  upon  one  thrust,  and  not  stand  parrying,  has  the 

^  "  Many  bloody  and  notorious  duels  were  fought  about  this 
time.  The  Duke  of  Grafton  kille^  Mr.  Stanley^  brother  to  the  Earl 
of  Derby,  indeed,  upon  an  almost  insufferable  provocation.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  his  Majesty  will  at  last  severely  remedy  this  unchristian 
custom  "  (Evelyn,  Diary,  Feb.,  168f).  This  entry  is  not  singular 
in  its  impatience  with  the  foreign  custom  of  the  duel ;  many  similar 
passages  occur  in  the  literature  of  the  time.  Steele  and  Defoe 
notably  opposed  duelling  a  generation  later. 


168  THOUGHTS  CONCERNIl^G  EDUCATION 

odds  against  a  moderate  fencer,  especially  if  he  has  skill 
in  wresthng.  And  therefore,  if  any  provision  be  to  be 
made  against  such  accidents,  and  a  man  be  to  prepare 
his  son  for  duels,  I  had  nmch  rather  mine  should  be  a 
good  wrestler,  than  an  ordinary  fencer  ;  which  is  the  most 
a  gentleman  can  attain  to  in  it,  unless  he  will  be  con- 
stantly in  the  fencing  school,  and  every  day  exercising. 
But  since  fencing  and  riding  the  great  horse  are  so 
generally  looked  upon  as  necessary  qualifications  in  the 
breeding  of  a  gentleman,  it  will  be  hard  wholly  to  deny 
any  one  of  that  rank  these  marks  of  distinction.  I  shall 
leave  it  therefore  to  the  father,  to  consider,  how  far  the 
temper  of  his  son,  and  the  station  he  is  Uke  to  be  in,  will 
allow  or  encourage  him  to  comply  with  fashions,  which, 
having  very  Httle  to  do  with  civil  life,  were  yet  formerly 
unknown  to  the  most  warlike  nations  ;  and  seem  to  have 
added  little  of  force  or  courage  to  those  who  have  re- 
ceived them  ;  unless  we  will  think  martial  skill  or  prowess 
have  been  improved  by  duelling,  with  which  fencing 
came  into,  and  with  which,  I  presume,  it  will  go  out  of 
the  world. 

200.  These  are  my  present  thoughts  concerning  learn- 
ing and  accomplishments.  The  great  business  of  all  is 
virtue  and  wisdom. 

[  "  Nullum  numen  abest,  si  sit  prudentia."^ 

I   Teach  him  to  get  a  mastery  over  his  inclinations,  and 

f?i)  submit   his   appetite  to  reason.     This   being   obtained, 

v^^y  and  by  constant  practice  settled  into  habit,  the  hardest 

!    part  of  the  task  is  over.     To  bring  a  young  man  to  this, 

rr^cpl  know  nothing  which  so  much  contributes  as  the  love 

(/y  of  praise  and  commendation,  which  should  therefore  be 

I    instilled  into  him  by  all  arts  imaginable.     Make  his  mind 

as  sensible  of   credit  and  shame  as  may  be  :    and  when 

you  have  done  that,  you  have  put  a  principle  into  him 

which  will  influence  his  actions,  when  you  are  not  by, 

\\  to  which  the  fear  of  a  httle  smart  of  a  rod  is  not  com- 

^  "  Where  wisdom  is,  no  heavenly  power  is  wanting  "  (Juvenal, 
Satires  x.  .366  and  xiv.  315. 


201,  202.  TRADE  169 

parable,  and  which  will  be  the  proper  stock,  whereon 
afterwards  to  graft  the  true  principles  of  morahty  and 
religion.^ 

201.  Trade. — I  have  one  more  thing  to  add,  which  as 
soon  as  I  mention  I  shall  run  the  danger  to  be  suspected 
to  have  forgot  what  I  am  about,  and  what  I  have  above 
written  concerning  education,  which  has  all  tended 
towards  a  gentleman's  calling,  with  which  a  trade  seems 
wholly  to  be  inconsistent.  And  yet,  I  cannot  forbear 
to  say,  I  would  have  him  learn  a  trade,  a  manual  trad^e  ; 
nay,  two  or  three,  but  one  more  particularly. 

202.  The  busy  inchnation  of  children  being  always  to 
be  directed  to  something  that  may  be  useful  to  them, 
the  advantage  may  be  considered  of  two  kinds  :  1.  Where 
the  skill  it  self,  that  is  got  by  exercise,  is  worth  the  having. 
Thus  skill  not  only  in  languages  and  learned  sciences, 
but  in  painting,  turning,  gardening,  tempering  and 
working  in  iron,  and  all  other  useful  arts,  is  worth  the 
having.  2.  Where  the  exercise  it  self,  without  any  con- 
sideration, is  necessary  or  useful  for  health.  Knowledge 
in  some  things  is  so  necessary  to  be  got  by  children 
whilst  they  are  young,  that  some  part  of  their  time  is  to 
be  allotted  to  their  improvement  in  them,  though  those 
employments  contribute  nothing  at  all  to  their  health  : 
such  are  reading  and  writing,  and  all  other  sedentary 
studies,  for  the  improvement  of  the  mind,  and  are  the 
unavoidable  business  of  gentlemen  quite  from  their 
cradles.  Other  manual  arts,  which  are  both  got  and 
exercised  by  labour,  do  many  of  them  by  their  exercise 
contribute  to  our  health  too,  especially  such  as  employ 
us  in  the  open  air.  In  these,  then,  health  and  improve- 
ment may  be  joined  together,  and  of  these  should  some 
fit  ones  be  chosen,  to  be  made  the  recreations  of  one, 
whose  chief  business  is  with  books  and  study.^  In  this 
choice,  the  age  and  inclination  of  the  person  is  to  be 
considered,  and  constraint  always  to  be  avoided  in  bring- 

1   See  sees.  53,  56-60. 

^  Rousseau  requires  Emile  to  learn  hand-work,  in  order  that  he 
may  understand  that  "  every  idle  citizen  is  a  rogue." 


170         THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

ing  him  to  it.  For  command  and  force  may  often  create, 
but  can  never  cure  an  aversion  ;  and  whatever  any  one  is 
brought  to  by  compulsion  he  will  leave  as  soon  as  he  can, 
and  be  little  profited,  and  less  recreated  by,  whilst  he 
is  at  it.^ 

203.  Painting. — That  which  of  all  others  would  please 
me  best  would  be  a  painter,  were  there  not  an  argument 
or  two  against  it  not  easy  to  be  answered.  First,  ill 
painting  is  one  of  the  worst  things  in  the  world  ;  and  to 
attain  a  tolerable  degree  of  skill  in  it,  requires  too  much 
of  a  man's  time.  If  he  has  a  natural  inclination  to  it,  it 
will  endanger  the  neglect  of  all  other  more  useful  studies, 
to  give  way  to  that ;  and  if  he  have  no  inclination  to  it, 
all  the  time,  pains  and  money  that  shall  be  employed  in 
it  will  be  thrown  away  to  no  purpose.  Another  reason 
why  I  am  not  for  painting  in  a  gentleman  is  because  it 
is  a  sedentary  recreation,  which  more  employs  the  mind 
than  the  body.  A  gentleman's  more  serious  employ- 
ment I  look  on  to  be  study  ;  and  when  that  demands 
relaxation  and  refreshment,  it  should  be  in  some  exercise 
of  the  body,  which  unbends  the  thought  and  confirms  the 
health  and  strength.  For  these  two  reasons  I  am  not 
for  painting. 

204.  Gardening — Joiner. — In  the  next  place,  for  a 
country  gentleman,  I  should  propose  one,  or  rather  both 
these — viz.,  gardening  and  working  in  wood,  as  a 
carpenter,  joiner,  or  turner,  as  being  fit  and  healthy 
recreations  for  a  man  of  study  or  business.  For  since 
the  mind  endures  not  to  be  constantly  employed  in  the 
same  thing  or  way ;  and  sedentary  or  studious  men 
should  have  some  exercise,  that  at  the  same  time  might 
divert  their  minds  and  employ  their  bodies  ;  I  know  none 
that  could  do  better  for  a  country  gentleman  than  these 
two,  the  one  of  them  affording  him  exercise,  when  the 
weather  or  season  keeps  him  from  the  other.  Besides, 
that,  by  being  skilled  in  the  one  of  them,  he  will  be  able 
to  govern  and  teach  his  gardener ;  by  the  other,  contrive 

1  See  sees.  72-74,  84,  103,  123,  128,  148,  149,  167,  202,  and 
Introduction,  p.  15. 


205.  LABOUR— 206,  207.  RECREATION  171 

and  make  a  great  many  things  both  of  dehght  and  use  : 
though  these  I  propose  not  as  the  chief  ends  of  his  labour, 
but  as  temptations  to  it :  diversion  from  his  other  more 
serious  thoughts  and  employments  by  useful  and  healthy 
manual  exercise  being  what  I  chiefly  aim  at  in  it. 

[205.  The  ancients  reconciled  manual  labour  with  affairs 
of  state,  as  in  the  instances  of  Gideon,  Cincinnatus,  Cato, 
and  Cyru^.]  '^ 

206.^  Recreation. — Nor  let  it  be  thought  that  I  mistake 
when  I  call  these  or  the  Hke  trades,  diversions  or  recrea- 
tions :  for  recreation  is  not  being  idle  (as  every  one  may 
observe),  but  easing  the  wearied  part  by  change  of  busi- 
ness :  and  he  that  thinks  diversion  may  not  lie  in  hard 
and  painful  labour,  forgets  the  early  rising,  hard  riding, 
heat,  cold  and  hunger  of  huntsmen,  which  is  yet  known 
to  be  the  constant  I  recreation  of  men  of  the  greatest 
condition.  Delving,  planting,  inoculating,^  or  any  the 
hke  profitable  employments,  would  be  no  less  a  diversion 
than  any  of  the  idle  sports  in  fashion,  if  men  could  but 
be  brought  to  delight  in'tHem,  which  custom  and  skill  in 
a  trade  will  quickly  bring  any  one  to  do.  And  I  doubt 
not,  but  there  are  to  be  found  those,  who,  being  fre- 
quently called  to  cards,  or  any  other  play,  by  those  they 
could  not  refuse,  have  been  more  tired  with  these  recrea- 
tions, than  with  any  the  most  serious  employment  of 
life  ;  though  the  play  has  been  such  as  they  have  naturally 
ha,d  n^  aversion  to,  and  with  which  thev  could  willingly  [ 
sometimes  divert  themselves^ 

207.  Though  when  one  reflects  on  these  and  other  the 
like  pastimes  (as  they  are  called)  one  finds  they  leave 
little  satisfaction  behind  them,  when  they  are  over ;  and 
most  commonly  give  more  vexation  than  delight  to 
people,  whilst  they  are  actually  engaged  in  them,  and 
neither  profit  the  mind  nor  the  body.  They  are  plain 
instances  to  me  that  men  cannot  be  perfectly  idle  ;  they 
must  be  doing  something.  The  skill  should  be  so  to 
employ  their  time  of  recreation  that  it  may  relax  and 
refresh  the  part  that  has  been  exercised,  and  is  tired  ; 
^  Sec.  193  in  first  edition.  ^  Grafting. 


f 


172         THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

and  yet  do  something,  which,  besides  the  present  dehght 
and  ease,  may  produce  what  will  afterwards  be  profitable. 
It  has  been  notliing  but  the  vanity  and  pride  of  greatness 
and  riches,  that  has  brought  unprofitable  and  dangerous 
pastimes  into  fashion,  and  persuaded  people  into  a 
belief,  that  the  learning  or  putting  their  hands  to  any 
thing  that  was  useful,  could  not  be  a  diversion  fit  for  a 
gentleman.  This  has  been  that  which  has  given  cards, 
dice,  and  drinking  so  much  credit  in  the  world  ;  and  a 
great  many  throw  away  their  spare  hours  in  them, 
through  the  prevalency  of  custom,  and  want  of  some  better 
employment  to  pass  their  time,  more  than  from  any  real 
delight  [that]  is  to  be  found  in  them,  only  because  it 
being  very  irksome  and  uneasy  to  do  nothing  at  all,  they 
had  never  learned  any  laudable  manual  art  wherewith 
to  divert  themselves  ;  and  so  they  betake  themselves  to 
those  foolish  or  ill  ways  in  use,  to  help  off  their  time, 
which  a  rational  man,  till  corrupted  by  custom,  could 
find  very  little  pleasure  in. 

,  208.  Trade. — I  say  not  this,  that  I  would  never  have 
a  young  gentleman  accommodate  himself  to  the  innocent 
diversions  in  fashion  amongst  those  of  his  age  and  con- 
dition. I  am  so  far  from  having  him  austere  and  morose 
to  that  degree,  that  I  would  persuade  him  Jo^nore  than 
ordinary  complaisance  for  all  the  gaieties  and  diversions 
of  those  he  converses  with,  and  be  averse  or  restyjn 
nothing  they  should  desire  of  hiiii,  that  might  become  a 
gentleman  and  an  honest  m^.  But  allowance  being 
iiiade  for  idle  and  jovial  conversation,  and  all  fashionable 
becoming  recreations,  I  say,  a  young  man  will  have  time 
enough,  from  his  serious  and  main  business,  to  learn 
almost  any  Jrade.  'Tis  want  of  application,  and  not  of 
leisure,  that  men  are  not  skilful  in  more  arts  than  one  ; 
and  an  hour  in  a  day,  constantly  employed  in  such  a  way 
of  diversion,  will  carry  a  man  in  a  short  time  a  great  deal 
farther  than  he  can  imagine  :  which,  if  it  were  of  no  other 
use,  but  to  drive  the  common,  vicious,  useless,  and 
dangerous  pastimes  out  of  fashion,  and  to  show  there 
was  no  need  of  them,  would  deserve  to  be^^Bcottraged. 


208.  209.  TRADE— 210.  MERCHANTS'  ACCOUNTS     173 

If  men  from  their  youth  were  weaned  from  that  saunter- 
ing humour,  wherein  some,  out  of  custom,  let  a  good  part 
of  their  Hves  run  uselessly  away,  without  either  business 
or  j-ecreation,  they  would  find  time  enough  to  acquire 
dexterity  and  skill  in  hundreds  of  things,  which,  though 
remote  from  their  proper  calhngs,  would  not  at  all  inter- 
fere  with  them.  And  therefore,  I  think,  for  this,  as  well 
as  other  reasons  before-mentioned,  a  lazy,  listlesj  humour, 
that  idly  dreanis^aw^y  the  d^s,  is  of  all  others  the  least 
to  be  indulged,  or  permitted  in  young  people.  It  is  the 
proper  state  of  one  sick,  and  out  of  order  in  his  health, 
and  is  tolerable  in  nobody  else,  of  what  age  or  condition 
soever. 

209.  To  the  arts  above-mentioned  may  be  added  per- 
fuming, varnishing,  graving,  and  several  sorts  of  working 
in  iron,  brass,  and  silver  :  and  if,  as  it  happens  to  most 
young  gentlemen,  that  a  considerable  part  of  his  time  be 
spent  in  a  great  town,  he  may  learn  to  cut,  polish,  and 
set  precious  stones,  or  employ  himself  in  grinding  and 
poMshing  optical  glasses.  Amongst  the  great  variety 
there  is  of  ingenious  manual  arts,  'twill  be  impossible 
that  no  one  should  be  found  to  please  and  delight  him, 
unless  he  be  either  idle  or  debauched,  which  is  not  to  be 
supposed  in  a  right  way  of  education.  And  since  he 
cannot  be  always  employed  in  study,  reading,  and  con- 
versation, there  will  be  many  an  hour,  besides  what  his 
exercises  will  take  up,  which,  if  not  spent  this  way,  will 
be  spent  worse.  For,  I  conclude  a  yaung  majx  will 
seldom  desire  to  sit  perfectly  still  and  idle  ;  or  if  Le.  does, 
it  is  a  fault  that  ought  to  be  mended. 

210.  But  if  his  mistaken  parents,  frightened  with  the 
disgraceful  names  of  mechanic  and  trade,  shall  have  an 
aversion  to  anything  of  this  kind  in  their  children  ;  yet 
there  is  one  thing  relating  to  trade,  which,  when  they  con- 
sider, they  will  think  absolutely  necessary  for  their  sons 
to  learn. 

Merchants'  Accounts. — Merchants'  accounts,  though  a 
science  not  likely  to  help  a  gentleman  to  get  an  estate,  yet 
possibly  there  is  not  any  thing  of  more  use  and  efficacy  to 


174  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

make  him  preserve  the  estate  he  has.  'Tis  seldom  ob- 
served, that  he  who  keeps  an  account  of  his  income  and 
expenses  and  thereby  has  constantly  under  view  the 
course  of  his  domestic  affairs,  lets  them  run  to  ruin  ;  and 
I  doubt  not  but  many  a  man  gets  behindhand  before  he  is 
aware,  or  runs  farther  on,  when  he  is  once  in,  for  want  of 
this  care,  or  the  skill  to  do  it.  I  would  therefore  advise 
all  gentlemen  to  learn  perfectly  merchants'  accounts,  and 
not  to  think  it  is  a  skill  that  belongs  not  to  them  because 
it  has  received  its  name  from,  and  has  been  chiefly 
practised  by,  men  of  traffic.^ 

211.  When  my  young  master  has  once  got  the  skill  of 
keeping  accounts  (which  is  a  business  of  reason  more  than 
arithmetic),  perhaps  it  will  not  be  amiss,  that  his  father 
from  thenceforth  require  him  to  do  it  in  all  his  concern- 
ments. Not  that  I  would  have  him  set  down  every  pint 
of  wine,  or  play,  that  costs  him  money  ;  the  general  name 
of  expenses  will  serve  for  such  things  well  enough  :  nor 
would  I  have  his  father  look  so  narrowly  into  these 
accounts,  as  to  take  occasion  from  thence  to  criticize  on 
his  expenses.  He  must  remember,  that  he  himself  was 
once  a  young  man,  and  not  forget  the  thoughts  he  had 
then,  nor  the  right  his  son  has  to  have  the  same,  and  to 
have  allowance  made  for  them.  If  therefore  I  would  have 
the  young  gentleman  obliged  to  keep  an  account,  it  is  not 
at  all  to  have  that  way  a  check  upon  his  expenses  (for 
what  the  father  allows  him,  he  ought  to  let  him  be  fully 
master  of),  but  only  that  he  might  be  brought  early  into 
the  custom  of  doing  it,  and  that  that  might  be  made 
familiar  and  habitual  to  him  betimes,  which  will  be  so 
useful  and  necessary  to  be  constantly  practised  through 
the  whole  course  of  his  life.  A  noble  Venetian,  whose 
son  wallowed  in  the  plenty  of  his  father's  riches,  finding 
his  son's  expenses  grow  very  high  and  extravagant, 
ordered  his  cashier  to  let  him  have  for  the  future  no  more 
money  than  what  he  should  count  when  he  received  it. 
This  one  would  think  no  great  restraint  to  a  young  gentle- 
man's expenses,  who  could  freely  have  as  much  money  as 
^  In  modem  phrase,  "  business  men."     Cf.  note,  sec.  197. 


211.  MERCHANTS'  ACCOUNTS— 212.  TRAVEL     175 

he  would  tell.^  But  yet  this,  to  one  who  was  used,  to 
nothing  but  the  pursuit  of  his  pleasures,  proved  a  very 
great  trouble,  which  at  last  ended  in  this  sober  and 
advantageous  reflection :  If  it  be  so  much  pains  to  me 
barely  to  count  the  money  I  would  spend,  what  labour 
and  pains  did  it  cost  my  ancestors,  not  only  to  count, 
but  get  it '?  This  rational  thought,  suggested  by  this 
little  pains  imposed  upon  him,  wrought  so  effectually 
upon  his  mind,  that  it  made  him  take  up,  and  from  that 
time  forwards  prove  a  good  husband.  This  at  least 
everybody  must  allow,  that  nothing  is  likelier  to  keep  a 
man  within  compass  than  the  having  constantly  before 
his  eyes  the  state  of  his  affairs  in  a  regular  course  of 
accounts. 

212.  Travel. — The  last  part  usually  in  education  is 
travel,  which  is  commonly  thought  to  finish  the  work, 
and  complete  the  gentleman.  I  confess,  travel  into 
foreign  countries  has  great  advantages  ;  but  the  time 
usually  chosen  to  send  young  men  abroad,  is,  I  think,  of 
all  other,  that  which  renders  them  least  capable  of  reaping 
those  advantages.  Those  which  are  proposed,  as  to  the 
main  of  them,  may  be  reduced  to  these  two  ;  first,  lan- 
guage ;  secondly,  an  improvement  in  wisdom  and  prudence 
by  seeing  men,  and  conversing  with  people  of  tempers, 
customs,  and  ways  of  living,  different  from  one  another, 
and  especially  from  those  of  his  parish  and  neighbourhood. 
But  from  sixteen  to  one  and  twenty,  which  is  the  ordinary 
\  time  of  travel,  men  are,  of  all  their  lives,  the  least  suited 
to  these  improvements.  The  first  season  to  get  foreign 
languages,  and  form  the  tongue  to  their  true  accents,  I 
should  think,  should  be  from  seven  to  fourteen  or  sixteen  ; 
and  then  too,  a  tutor  with  them  is  useful  and  necessary, 
who  may,  with  those  languages,  teach  them  other  things. 
But  to  put  them  out  of  their  parents'  view,  at  a  great 
distance,  under  a  governor,  when  they  think  themselves 
too  much  men  to  be  governed  by  others,  and  yet  have 
not  prudence  and  experience  enough  to  govern  them- 
selves :  what  is  it,  but  to  expose  them  to  all  the  greatest 
^  I.e.,  count. 


176         THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

dangers  of  their  whole  life,  when  they  have  the  least  fence 
and  guard  against  them  ?  Till  that  boihng,  boisterous 
part  of  life  comes  in,  it  may  be  hoped,  the  tutor  may  have 
some  authority  ;  neither  the  stubbornness  of  age,  nor  the 
temptation  of  examples  of  others  can  take  him  from  his 
tutor's  conduct,  till  fifteen  or  sixteen  :  but  then,  when  he 
begins  to  consort  himself  with  men,  and  think  himself 
one  ;  when  he  comes  to  relish  and  pride  himself  in  manly 
vices,  and  thinks  it  a  shame  to  be  any  longer  under  the 
control  and  conduct  of  another  :  what  can  be  hoped  from 
even  the  most  careful  and  discreet  governor,  when  neither 
he  has  power  to  compel,  nor  his  pupil  a  disposition  to  be 
persuaded  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  has  the  advice  of  warm 
blood,  and  prevailing  fashion,  to  hearken  to  the  tempta- 
tions of  his  companions,  just  as  wise  as  himself,  rather 
than  to  the  persuasions  of  his  tutor,  who  is  now  looked  on 
as  the  enemy  to  his  freedom  ?  And  when  is  a  man  so 
like  to  miscarry,  as  when  at  the  same  time  he  is  both  raw 
and  unruly  ?  This  is  the  season  of  all  his  life  that  most 
requires  the  eye  and  authority  of  his  parents  and  friends 
to  govern  it.  The  flexibleness  of  the  former  part  of  a 
man's  age,  not  yet  grown  up  to  be  headstrong,  makes  it 
more  governable  and  safe  ;  and,  in  the  after-part,  reason 
and  foresight  begin  a  httle  to  take  place,  and  mind  a  man 
of  his  safety  and  improvement.  The  time  therefore  I 
should  think  the  fittest  for  a  young  gentleman  to  be  sent 
abroad  would  be  either  when  he  is  younger,  under  a  tutor, 
whom  he  might  be  the  better  for ;  or  when  he  was  some 
years  older,  when  he  is  of  age  to  govern  himself,  and  make 
observations  of  what  he  finds  in  other  countries  worthy 
liis  notice,  and  that  might  be  of  use  to  him  after  his  return  : 
and  when  too,  being  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  laws 
and  fashions,  the  natural  and  moral  advantages  and  defects 
of  his  own  country,  he  has  something  to  exchange  with 
those  abroad,  from  whose  conversation  he  hoped  to  reap 
any  knowledge. 

213.  The  ordering  of  travel  otherwise  is  that,  I  imagine, 
which  makes  so  many  young  gentlemen  come  back  so  little 
improved  by  it.     And  if  they  do  bring  home  with  them  any 


213,  214.  TRAVEL  177 

knowledge  of  the  places  and  people  they  have  seen,  it  is 
often  an  admiration  of  the  worst  and  vainest  practices 
they  met  with  abroad ;  retaining  a  relish  and  memory  of 
those  things  wherein  their  Uberty  took  its  first  swing, 
rather  than  of  what  should  make  them  better  and  wiser 
after  their  return.  And  indeed,  how  can  it  be  otherwise, 
going  abroad  at  the  age  they  do,  under  a  governor,  who 
is  to  provide  their  necessaries,  and  make  their  observations 
for  them  ?  Thus,  under  the  shelter  and  pretence  of  a 
governor,  thinking  themselves  excused  from  standing  upon 
their  own  legs,  or  being  accountable  for  their  own  conduct, 
they  very  seldom  trouble  themselves  with  inquiries,  or 
making  useful  observations  of  their  own.  Their  thoughts 
run  after  play  and  pleasure,  wherein  they  take  it  as  a 
lessening  to  be  controlled  ;  but  seldom  trouble  themselves 
to  examine  the  designs,  observe  the  address,  and  consider 
the  arts,  tempers,  and  inclinations  of  men  they  meet  with  ; 
that  so  they  may  know  how  to  comport  themselves  towards 
them.  Here  he  that  travels  with  them,  is  to  screen  them, 
get  them  out,  when  they  have  run  themselves  into  the 
briars ;  and  in  all  their  miscarriages  be  answerable  for 
them. 

214.^  I  confess,  the  knowledge  of  men  is  so  great  a  skill, 
that  it  is  not  to  be  expected  a  young  man  should  presently^ 
be  perfect  in  it.  But  yet  his  going  abroad  is  to  little 
purpose,  if  travel  does  not  somewhat  open  his  eyes,  make 
him  cautious  and  wary,  and  accustom  him  to  look  beyond 
the  outside,  and,  under  the  inoffensive  guard  of  a  civil  and 
obliging  carriage,  keep  himself  free  and  safe  in  liis  con- 
versation with  strangers,  and  all  sorts  of  people,  without 
forfeiting  their  good  opinion.  He  that  is  sent  out  to 
travel  at  the  age,  and  with  the  thoughts  of  a  man  designing 
to  improve  himself,  may  get  into  the  conversation  a'nd 
acquaintance  of  persons  of  condition  where  he  comes  : 
which,  though  a  thing  of  most  advantage  to  a  gentleman 
that  travels,  yet  I  ask,  amongst  our  young  men  that  go 
abroad  under  tutors.  What  one  is  there  of  an  hundred, 
that  ever  visits  any  person  of  quality  ?  much  less  makes 

^  Sec.  202  in  first  edition.  ^  Immediately,  at  once. 

12 


178  THOUGHTS  CONCERNING  EDUCATION 

an  acquaintance  with  such,  from  whose  conversation  he 
may  learn  what  is  good  breeding  in  that  country,  and 
what  is  worth  observation  in  it ;  though  from  such  persons 
it  is,  one  may  learn  more  in  one  day,  than  in  a  year's 
rambling  from  one  June  to  another.  Nor  indeed  is  it  to 
be  wondered  ;  for  men  of  worth  and  parts  will  not  easily 
admit  the  familiarity  of  boys  who  yet  need  the  care  of  a 
tutor  :  though  a  young  gentleman  and  stranger,  appearing 
like  a  man,  and  showing  a  desire  to  infomi  himself  in  the 
customs,  manners,  laws,  and  government  of  the  country 
he  is  in,  will  find  welcome  assistance  and  entertainment 
amongst  the  best  and  most  knowing  persons  everywhere, 
who  will  be  ready  to  receive,  encourage,  and  countenance 
an  ingenuous  and  inquisitive  foreigner. 

215.^  This,  how  true  soever  it  be,  will  not,  I  fear,  alter 
the  custom,  which  has  cast  the  time  of  travel  upon  the 
worst  part  of  a  man's  life  ;  but  for  reasons  not  taken  from 
their  improvement.  The  young  lad  must  not  be  ventured 
abroad  at  eight  or  ten,  for  fear  of  what  may  happen  to  the 
tender  child,  though  he  then  runs  ten  times  less  risk  than 
at  sixteen  or  eighteen.  Nor  must  he  stay  at  home  till  that 
dangerous  heady  age  be  over,  because  he  must  be  back 
again  by  one  and  twenty,  to  marry  and  propagate.  The 
father  cannot  stay  any  longer  for  the  portion,  nor  the 
mother  for  a  new  set  of  babies  to  play  with  ;  and  so  my 
young  master,  whatever  comes  on't,  must  have  a  wife 
looked  out  for  him,  by  that  time  he  is  of  age ;  though  it 
would  be  no  prejudice  to  his  strength,  his  parts,  nor  his 
issue,  if  it  were  respited  for  some  time,  and  he  had  leave 
to  get,  in  years  and  knowledge,  the  start  a  little  of  his 
children,  who  are  often  found  to  tread  too  near  upon  the 
heels  of  their  fathers,  to  the  no  great  satisfaction  either 
of  son  or  father.  But  the  young  gentleman  being  got 
within  view  of  matrimony,  'tis  time  to  leave  him  to  his 
mistress. 

216.^  Though  I  am  now  come  to  a  conclusion  of  what 
obvious  remarks  have  suggested  to  me  concerning  educa- 
tion, I  would  not  have  it  thought  that  I  look  on  it  as  a 
^  Sec.  201  in  first  edition.  -  Sec.  202  in  first  edition. 


216.  CONCLUSION  179 

just  treatise  on  this  subject.  There  are  a  thousand  other 
things  that  may  need  consideration ;  especially  if  one 
should  take  in  the  various  tempers,  different  inclinations, 
and  particular  defaults,  that  are  to  be  found  in  children ; 
and  prescribe  proper  remedies.  The  variety  is  so  great, 
that  it  would  require  a  volume  ;  nor  would  that  reach  it. 
Each  man's  mind  has  sonie  pecuharity,  as  well  as  his  face, 
thaL-distihguTsheK  hifa  from  all  others ;  and  there  are 
possibly  scarce  two  children  who  can  be  conducted  by 
exactly  the  same  method.  Besides  that,  I  think  a  prince, 
a  nobleinaii,  and  an  ordinarygentleman's  son,  should  have. 
dilfeient  ways  of  breeding.  But  having  had  here  only 
"some  general  views,  in  reference  to  the  main  end  and 
aims  in_education,  and  those  designed  for  a  gentleman's 
son,  who[mJ~Bemg  then  very  Kttle,  I  considered  only  as 
^hitebaper,  or  wax,  to  be  moulded  and  fashioned  as  one 
pleases?  I  have  touched  Httle  more  than  those  heads7 
which  I  judged  necessary  for  the  breeding  of  a  young 
gentleman  of  his  condition  in  general ;  and  have  now 
pubhshed  these  my  occasional  thoughts,  with  this  hope, 
that,  though  this  be  far  from  being  a  complete  treatise 
on  this  subject,  or  such  as  that  every  one  may  find  what 
will  just  fit  his  child  in  it ;  yet  it  may  give  some  small 
light  to  those,  whose  concern  for  their  dear  little  ones 
makes  them  so  irregularly^  bold,  that  they  dare  venture 
to  consult  their  own  reason,  in  the  education  of  their 
children,  rather  than  wholly  to  rely  upon  old  custom. 

^  See  sec.  101,  note.  ^  Unconventionally,  unusually. 


I ;.' 


OF  THE  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

Apart  from  punctuation,  the  text  here  followed  is  that  of 
Dol.  Hi.  in  the  ten-volume  edition  of  Locke's  "  Works."  1812. 

"  Quid  tarn  temerarium  tamquc  indignum  sapientis  gravitate 
atque  constantia,  quam  aut  falsum  sentire,  aut  quod  non  satis 
oxplorate  perceptum  sit,  et  cognitum,  sine  uUa  dubitationc  defen- 
dere  ?" — Cicero,  De  Natura  Deorum,  i.^ 

1.  Introduction. — The  last  resort  a  man  has  recourse  to, 
in  the  conduct  of  himself,  is  his  understanding  :  for  though 
we  distinguish  the  faculties  of  the  mind,  and  give  the  !  o, 
supreme  command  to  the  will,  as  to  an  agent, ^  yet  the 
truth  is,  the  man,  who  is  the  agent,  determines  himself  to 
this  or  that  voluntary  action,  upon  some  precedent 
knowledge,  or  appearance  of  knowledge,  in  the  under- 
standing. No  man  ever  sets  himself  about  anything  but 
upon  some  view  or  other,  which  serves  him  for  a  reason 
for  what  he  does  :  and  whatsoever  faculties  he  employs, 
the  understanding,  with  such  light  as  it  has,  well  or  ill 
informed,  constantly  leads  ;  and  by  that  light,  true  or 
false,  all  his  operative  powers  are  directed.  The  will 
itself,  how  absolute  and  uncontrollable  soever  it  may  be 
thought,  never  fails  in  its  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  the 
understanding.  Temples  have  their  sacred  images,  and 
we  see  what  influence  they  have  always  had  over  a  great 

^  What  so  thoughtless  and  so  unworthy  of  the  earnestness  and 
constancy  of  a  philosopher,  as  unhesitatingly  to  maintain  either 
what  is  felt  to  be  false,  or  what  has  not  been,  with  sufficient  cer- 
tainty, perceived  and  understood  ? 

^  One  who  acts.  The  discussion  of  the  Will  and  its  determination 
forms  one  of  the  longest  chapters  in  the  Essay  concerning  Human 
Understanding,  ii.,  chap.  xxi. 

181 


182  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

part  of  mankind.  But  in  truth,  the  ideas  and  images  in 
men's  minds  are  the  invisible  powers  that  constantly 
govern  them,  and  to  these  they  all  universally  pay  a  ready 
submission.^  It  is  therefore  of  the  highest  concernment 
that  great  care  should  be  taken  of  the  understanding,  to 
conduct  it  right  in  the  search  of  knowledge,  and  in  the 
judgments  it  makes. 

The  logic  now  in  use  has  so  long  possessed  the  chair,  as 
the  only  art  taught  in  the  schools,^  for  the  direction  of 
the  mind  in  the  study  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  that  it 
would  perhaps  be  thought  an  affectation  of  novelty  to 
suspect  that  rules  that  have  served  the  learned  world 
these  two  or  three  thousand  years,  and  which,  without 
any  complaint  of  defects,  the  learned  have  rested  in,  are 
not  sufficient  to  guide  the  understanding.  And  I  should 
not  doubt  but  this  attempt  would  be  censured  as  vanity 
or  presumption,  did  not  the  great  lord  Veralam's  authority 
justify  it ;  who,  not  servilely  thinking  learnmg  could  not 
be  advanced  beyond  what  it  was,  because  for  many  ages 
it  had  not  been,  did  not  rest  in  the  lazy  approbation  and 
applause  of  what  was,  because  it  was  ;  bat  enlarged  his 
mind  to  what  it  might  be.  In  his  preface^  to  his  Novum 
Organum,  concerning  logic,  he  pronounces  thus  :  "  Qui 
summas  dialecticae  partes  tribuerunt,  atque  inde  fidissima 
scientiis  prassidia  comparari  putarunt,  verissime  te  optime 
viderunt  intellectum  humanum,  sibi  permissum,  merito 
suspectum  esse  debere.  Verum  infirmior  omnino  est  malo 
medicina  ;  nee  ipsa  mali  expers.  Siquidem  dialectica,  quae 
recepta  est,  licet  ad  civilia  et  artes,  quse  in  sermone  et 
opinione  positee  sunt,  rectissime  adhibeatur  ;  naturae  tamen 
subtilitatem  longo  intervallo  non  attingit,  et  prensando 
quod  non  capit,  ad  errores  potius  stabiliendos  et  quasi 
figendos,  quam  ad  viam  veritati  aperiendam  valuit." 

"  They,"  says  he,  "who  attributed  so  much  to  logic, 

^  Cf,  Herbart:  "Das  Wollen  wurzelt  im  Gedankenkreise," 
"  The  will  takes  root  in  the  circle  of  thought" — that  is  in  the 
complex  of  ideas.     (Umriss  p'ddagogischer  Vorlesungen,  §  58.) 

^  I.e.,  of  the  University.     See  sec.  43,  first  paragraph. 

^  The  passage  does  not  occur  there.  See  Fowler's  edition  of  the 
Novum  Organon,  p.  165  (second  edition). 


1.  INTRODUCTION— 2.  PARTS  183 

perceived  very  well  and  truly  that  it  was  not  safe  to  trust 
the  understanding  to  itself  without  the  guard  of  any  rules. 
But  the  remedy  reached  not  the  evil,  but  became  a  part 
of  it,  for  the  logic  which  took  [its]  place,  though  it  might 
do  well  enough  in  civil  affairs  and  the  arts,  which  con- 
sisted in  talk  and  opinion,  yet  comes  very  far  short  of 
subtlety  in  the  real  performances  of  nature  ;  and,  catching 
at  what  it  cannot  reach,  has  served  to  confirm  and 
establish  errors,  rather  than  to  open  a  way  to  truth." 
And  therefore  a  little  after  he  says,  "  That  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  a  better  and  perfecter  use  and  employment 
of  the  mind  and  understanding  should  be  introduced." 
"  Necessario  requiritur  ut  mehor  et  perfectior  mentis  et 
intellectus  humani  usus  et  adoperatio  introducatur." 

2.  Parts. — There  is,  it  is  visible,  great  variety  in  men's 
understandings,  and  their  natural  constitutions  put  so 
wide  a  difference  between  some  men  in  this  respect,  that 
art  and  industry  would  never  be  able  to  master,  and  their 
very  natures  seem  to  want  a  foundation  to  raise  on  it  that 
which  other  men  easily  attain  unto.  Amongst  men  of 
equal  education  there  is  great  inequality  of  parts.^  And  I 
the  woods  of  America,  as  well  as  the  schools  of  Athens,  (| 
produce  men  of  several  abilities  in  the  same  kind.  Though 
this  be  so,  yet  I  imagine  most  men  come  very  short  of 
what  they  might  attain  unto,  in  their  several  degrees,  by  a 
neglect  of  their  understandings.  A  few  rules  of  logic  are 
thought  sufficient  in  this  case  for  those  who  pretend  to 
the  highest  improvement,  whereas  I  think  there  are  a 
great  many  natural  defects  in  the  understanding  capable 
of  amendment,  which  are  overlooked  and  wholly  neglected. 
And  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that  men  are  guilty  of  a  great 
many  faults  in  the  exercise  and  improvement  of  this 
faculty  of  the  mind,  which  hinder  them  in  their  progress, 
and  keep  them  in  ignorance  and  error  all  their  lives. 
Some  of  them  I  shall  take  notice  of,  and  endeavour  to 
point  out  proper  remedies  for,  in  the  following  discourse. 

1  Cf.  Thoughts,  sees.  101,  139,  176,  216,  and  sec.  32  below.  These 
passages  are  at  variance  with  Locke's  figures  of  th©  "  white  paper  " 
and  "  wax."     See  Introduction,  p.  6. 


184  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

8.  Reasoning. — Besides  the  want  of  determined  ideas,^ 
and  of  sagacity  and  exercise  in  finding  out  and  laying  in 
order  intermediate  ideas,  there  are  three  miscarriages  that 
men  are  guilty  of,  in  reference  to  their  reason,  whereby 
this  faculty  is  hindered  in  them  from  that  service  it  might 
do  and  was  designed  for.  And  he  that  reflects  upon  the 
actions  and  discourses  of  mankind  will  find  their  defects 
in  this  kind  very  frequent  and  very  observable. 

(1)  The  first  is  of  those  who  seldom  reason  at  all,  but 
do  and  think  according  to  the  example  of  others,  whether 
parents,  neighbours,  ministers,  or  who  else  they  are 
pleased  to  make  choice  of  to  have  an  impHcit  faith  in,  for 
the  saving  of  themselves  the  pains  and  trouble  of  thinking 
and  examining  for  themselves. 

(2)  The  second  is  of  those  who  put  passion  in  the  place 
of  reason,  and  being  resolved  that  shall  govern  their 
actions  and  arguments,  neither  use  their  own,  nor  hearken 
to  other  people's  reason,  any  farther  than  it  suits  their 
humour,  interest,  or  party ;  and  these  one  may  observe 
commonly  content  themselves  with  words  which  have  no 
distinct  ideas  to  them,  though  in  other  matters,  that  they 
come  with  an  unbiassed  indifferency^  to,  they  want  not 
abilities  to  talk  and  hear  reason,  where  they  have  no 
secret  inclination  that  hinders  them  from  being  tractable 
to  it. 

(3)  The  third  sort  is  of  those  who  readily  and  sincerely 
follow  reason  ;  but  for  want  of  having  that  which  one  may 
call  large,  sound,  roundabout  sense,  have  not  a  full  view  of 
all  that  relates  to  the  question,  and  may  be  of  moment  to 
decide  it.  We  are  all  shortsighted,  and  very  often  see 
but  one  side  of  a  matter  ;  our  views  are  not  extended  to  all 
that  has  a  connexion  with  it.  From  this  defect  I  think 
no  man  is  free.  We  see  but  in  part,  and  we  know  but  in 
part,  and  therefore  it  is  no  wonder  we  conclude  not  right 
from  our  partial  views.  This  might  instruct  the  proudest 
esteemer  of  his  own  parts,  how  useful  it  is  to   talk  and 

*  See  Essay,  Epistle  to  the  Reader,  and  ii.,  chap,  xxix..  Thoughts, 
sec.  195. 

^  Impartiality. 


3.  EEASONING  185 

consult  with  others,  even  such  as  come  short  of  him  in 
capacity,  quickness,  and  penetration ;  for  since  no  one 
sees  all,  and  we  generally  have  different  prospects  of  the 
same  thing  according  to  our  different,  as  I  may  say, 
positions  to  it,  it  is  not  incongruous  to  think,  nor  beneath 
any  man  to  try,  whether  another  may  not  have  notions 
of  things  which  have  escaped  him,  and  which  his  reason 
would  make  use  of  if  they  came  into  his  mind.  The  faculty 
of  reasoning  seldom  or  never  deceives  those  who  trust  to 
it ;  its  consequences,  from  what  it  builds  on,  are  evident 
and  certain ;  but  that  which  it  oftenest,  if  not  only,  mis- 
leads us  in  is,  that  the  principles  from  which  we  conclude 
the  grounds  upon  which  we  bottom  our  reasoning,  are  but 
a  part ;  something  is  left  out,  which  should  go  into  the 
reckoning,  to  make  it  just  and  exact.  Here  we  may 
imagine  a  vast  and  almost  infinite  advantage  that  angels 
and  separate  spirits^  may  have  over  us  ;  who  in  their 
several  degrees  of  elevation  above  us  may  be  endowed  with 
more  comprehensive  faculties  ;  and  some  of  them  perhaps, 
having  perfect  and  exact  views  of  all  finite  beings  that 
come  under  their  consideration,  can,  as  it  were,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  collect  together  all  their  scattered 
and  almost  boundless  relations.  A  mind  so  furnished, 
what  reason  has  it  to  acquiesce  in  the  certainty  of  its 
conclusions  ! 

In  this  we  may  see  the  reason  why  some  men  of  study 
and  thought,  that  reason  right  and  are  lovers  of  truth,  do 
make  no  great  advances  in  their  discoveries  of  it.  Error 
and  truth  are  uncertainly  blended  in  their  minds  ;  their 
decisions  are  lame  and  defective,  and  they  are  very  often 
mistaken  in  their  judgments  :  the  reason  whereof  is,  they 
converse  but  with  one  sort  of  men,  they  read  but  one  sort 
of  books,  they  will  not  come  in  the  hearing  but  of  one 
sort  of  notions  ;  the  truth  is,  they  canton  out  to  them- 
selves a  httle  Goshen  2  in  the  intellectual  world,  where 
light  shines,  and  as  they  conclude,  day  blesses  them  ; 
but  the  rest  of  that  vast  expansum  they  give  up  to  night 

^  Cf.  Essay,  iv,,  chap,  iii.,  sec.  37. 
2  Genesis  xlvii.  27. 


186  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

and  darkness,  and  so  avoid  coming  near  it.  They  have  a 
pretty  traffic  with  known  correspondents,  in  some  little 
creek ;  within  that  they  confine  themselves,  and  are 
dexterous  managers  enough  of  the  wares  and  products  of 
that  corner  with  which  they  content  themselves,  but  will 
not  venture  out  into  the  great  ocean  of  knowledge,  to 
survey  the  riches  that  nature  hath  stored  other  parts 
with,  no  less  genuine,  no  less  soHd,  no  less  useful  than  what 
has  fallen  to  their  lot,  in  the  admired  plenty  and  sufficiency 
of  their  own  little  spot,  which  to  them  contains  whatsoever 
is  good  in  the  universe.  Those  who  live  thus  mewed  up 
within  their  own  contracted  territories,  and  will  not  look 
abroad  beyond  the  boundaries  that  chance,  conceit,  or 
laziness  has  set  to  their  inquiries,  but  live  separate  from 
the  notions,  discourses,  and  attainments  of  the  rest  of 
mankind,  may  not  amiss  be  represented  by  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Marian  islands ;  ^  who,  being  separated  by  a  large 
tract  of  sea  from  all  communion  with  the  habitable  parts 
of  the  earth,  thought  themselves  the  only  people  of  the 
world.  And  though  the  straitness  of  the  conveniences 
of  life  amongst  them  had  never  reached  so  far  as  to  the 
use  of  fire,  till  the  Spaniards,  not  many  years  since,  in 
their  voyages  from  Acapulco  to  Manilla,  brought  it 
amongst  them  ;  yet,  in  the  want  and  ignorance  of  almost 
all  things,  they  looked  upon  themselves,  even  after  that 
the  Spaniards  had  brought  amongst  them  the  notice  of 
variety  of  nations,  abounding  in  sciences,  arts,  and  con- 
veniences of  life,  of  which  they  knew  nothing  ;  they  looked 
upon  themselves,  I  say,  as  the  happiest  and  wisest  people 
of  the  universe.  But  for  all  that,  nobody,  I  think,  will 
imagine  them  deep  naturalists  or  solid  metaphysicians  ; 
nobody  will  deem  the  quickest-sighted  amongst  them  to 
have  very  enlarged  views  in  ethics  or  politics ;  ^  nor  can 
any  one  allow  the  most  capable  amongst  them  to  be  ad- 
vanced so  far  in  his  understanding  as  to  have  any  other 
knowledge  but  of  the  few  little  things  of  his  and  the 

^  The  Ladrones,  between  New  Guinea  and  Japan. 
2  A  hint  as  to  the  limit  to  the  usefulness  of  "  sense  training  "  in 
education.     Cf.  p.  203. 


3.  REASONING  187 

neighbouring  islands  within  his  commerce  ;^  but  far 
enough  from  that  comprehensive  enlargement  of  mind 
which  adorns  a  soul  devoted  to  truth,  assisted  with  letters, 
and  a  free  generation^  of  the  several  views  and  sentiments 
of  thinking  men  of  all  sides.  Let  not  men,  therefore,  that 
would  have  a  sight  of  what  every  one  pretends  to  be 
desirous  to  have  a  sight  of,  truth  in  its  full  extent,  narrow 
and  blind  their  own  prospect.  Let  not  men  think  there 
is  no  truth  but  in  the  sciences  that  they  study,  or  books  ' 
that  they  read.  To  prejudice  other  men's  notions,  before 
we  have  looked  into  them,  is  not  to  show  their  darkness, 
but  to  put  out  our  own  eyes.  "  Try  all  things,  hold  fast 
that  which  is  good,"^  is  a  divine  rule,  coming  from  the 
Father  of  light  and  truth,  and  it  is  hard  to  know  what 
other  way  men  can  come  at  truth,  to  lay  hold  of  it,  if  they 
do  not  dig  and  search  for  it  as  for  gold  and  hid  treasure  ; 
but  he  that  does  so  must  have  much  earth  and  rubbish 
before  he  gets  the  pure  metal ;  sand  and  pebbles  and  dross 
usually  lie  blended  with  it,  but  the  gold  is  never  the  less 
gold,  and  will  enrich  the  man  that  employs  his  pains  to 
seek  and  separate  it.  Neither  is  there  any  danger  he 
should  be  deceived  by  the  mixture.  Every  man  carries 
about  him  a  touchstone,  if  he  will  make  use  of  it,  to  dis- 
tinguish substantial  gold  from  superficial  glitterings,  truth 
from  appearances.  And  indeed  the  use  and  benefit  of 
this  touchstone,  which  is  natural  reason,  is  spoiled  and 
lost  only  by  assuming  prejudices,  overweening  presump- 
tion, and  narrowing  our  minds.  The  want  of  exercising 
it  in  the  full  extent  of  things  intelligible,  is  that  which 
weakens  and  extinguishes  this  noble  faculty  in  us.  Trace 
it  and  see  whether  it  be  not  so.  The  day-labourer  in  a 
country-village  has  commonly  but  a  small  pittance  of 
knowledge,  because  his  ideas  and  notions  have  been 
confined  to  the  narrow  bounds  of  a  poor  conversation  and 
employment  :  the  low  mechanic  of  a  country-town  does 
somewhat  out-do  him  :  porters  and  cobblers  of  great  cities 
surpass  them.  A  country  gentleman  who,  leaving  Latin 
and  learning  in  the  university,  removes  thence  to  his 
^  Intercourse.  ^  Production.  ^  1  Thcss.  v.  21. 


188  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

mansion-house,  and  associates  with  neighbours  of  the 
same  strain,  who  reHsh  nothing  but  hunting  and  a  bottle  ; 
with  those  alone  he  spends  his  time,  with  those  alone  he 
converses,  and  can  away  with  no  company  whose  dis- 
course goes  beyond  what  claret  and  dissoluteness  inspire. 
Such  a  patriot,  formed  in  this  happy  way  of  improvement, 
cannot  fail,  as  we  see,  to  give  notable  decisions  upon  the 
bench  at  quarter-sessions,  and  eminent  proofs  of  his  skill 
in  politics,  when  the  strength  of  his  purse  and  party  have 
advanced  him  to  a  more  conspicuous  station.  To  such  a 
one,  truly,  an  ordinary  coffee-house  gleaner  of  the  city  is 
an  arrant  ^  statesman,  and  as  much  superior  to'^  as  a  man 
conversant  about  Whitehall  and  the  court  is  to  an  ordinary 
shop-keeper.  To  carry  this  a  little  farther :  Here  is  one 
muffled  up  in  the  zeal  and  infallibility  of  his  own  sect,  and 
will  not  touch  a  book  or  enter  into  debate  with  a  person 
that  will  question  any  of  those  things  which  to  him  are 
sacred.  Another  surveys  our  differences  in  rehgion  with 
an  equitable  and  fair  indifference,  and  so  finds,  probably, 
that  none  of  them  are  in  everything  unexceptionable. 
These  divisions  and  systems  were  made  by  men,  and  carry 
the  mark  of  fallible  on  them  ;  and  in  those  whom  he  differs 
from,  and  till  he  opened  his  eyes  had  a  general  prejudice 
against,  he  meets  with  more  to  be  said  for  a  great  many 
things  than  before  he  was  aware  of,  or  could  have  imagined. 
Which  of  these  two  now  is  most  likely  to  judge  right  in  our 
rehgious  controversies,  and  to  be  most  stored  with  truth, 
the  mark  all  pretend  to  aim  at  ?  All  these  men  that  I 
have  instanced  in,  thus  unequally  furnished  with  truth 
and  advanced  in  knowledge,  I  suppose  of  equal  natural 
parts  ;  all  the  odds  between  them  has  been  the  different 
scope  that  has  been  given  to  their  understandings  to  range 
in,  for  the  gathering  up  of  information  and  furnishing  their 
heads  with  ideas  and  notions  and  observations,  whereon 
to  employ  their  mind  and  form  their  understandings. 

*  Thorough. 

2  I.e.,  the  "  coffee-house  gleaner  "  is  as  much  the  superior  of  the 
gentleman  described  as  the  courtier  is  the  superior  of  the  shop- 
keeper.    The  Court  was  at  Whitehall  at  this  date. 


3.  REASONING  189 

It  will  possibly  be  objected,  "  who  is  sufficient  for  all 
this  ?"  I  answer,  more  than  can  be  imagined.  Every- 
one knows  what  his  proper  business  is,  and  what,  according 
to  the  character  he  makes  of  himself,  the  world  may  justly 
expect  of  him  ;  and  to  answer  that,  he  will  find  he  will  have 
time  and  opportunity  enough  to  furnish  himself,  if  he  will 
not  deprive  himself  by  a  narrowness  of  spirit  of  those 
helps  that  are  at  hand-  *  I  do  not  say,  to  be  a  good 
geographer,  that  a  man  should  visit  every  mountain,  river, 
promontory,  and  creek  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  view 
the  buildings  and  survey  the  land  everywhere,  as  if  he 
were  going  to  make  a  purchase ;  but  yet  every  one  must 
allow  that  he  shall  know  a  country  better  that  makes  often 
sallies  into  it  and  traverses  up  and  down,  than  he  that  like 
a  mill-horse  goes  still  round  in  the  same  track,  or  keeps 
within  the  narrow  bounds  of  a  field  or  two  that  delight 
him.  He  that  will  inquire  out  the  best  books  in  every 
science,  and  inform  himself  of  the  most  material  authors 
of  the  several  sects  ^  of  philosophy  and  religion,  will  not 
find  it  an  infinite  work  to  acquaint  himself  with  the 
sentiments  of  mankind  concerning  the  most  weighty  and 
comprehensive  subjects.  Ijet  him  exercise  the  freedom 
of  his  reason  and  understanding  in  sach  a  latitude  as  this, 
and  his  mind  will  be  strengthened,  his  capacity  enlarged, 
his  faculties  improved  ;  and  the  light  which  the  remote 
and  scattered  parts  of  truth  will  give  to  one  another  will 
so  assist  his  judgment,  that  he  will  seldom  be  widely  out, 
or  miss  giving  proof  of  a  clear  head  and  a  comprehensive 
knowledge.  At  least,  this  is  the  only  way  I  know  to  give 
the  understanding  its  due  improvement  to  the  full 
extent  of  its  capacity,  and  to  distinguish  the  two  most 
different  things  I  know  in  the  world,  a  logical  chicaner  ^ 
from  a  man  of  reason.  Only,  he  that  would  thus  give  the 
mind  its  flight,  and  send  abroad  his  inquiries  into  al]  parts 
after  truth,  must  be  sure  to  settle  in  his  head  determined 
ideas  ^  of  all  that  he  employs  his  thoughts  about,  and  never 
fail  to  judge  himself,  and  judge  unbiassedly,  of  all  that 

^  "  Schools."     C/.  Thoughts,  sec.  193.  ^  Trickster. 

^  See  p.  184,  note. 


t 


190  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

he  receives  from  others,  either  in  their  writings  or  dis- 
courses. Keverence  or  prejudice  must  not  be  suffered  to 
give  beauty  or  deformity  to  any  of  their  opinions. 

4.  Of  Practice  and  Habits. — We  are  born  with  faculties 
and  powers  capable  almost  of  anything,  such  at  least  as 
would  carry  us  farther  than  can  easily  be  imagined :  but  it 
is  only  the  exercise  of  those  powers  which  gives  us  abihty 
and  skill  in  anything,  and  leacts  us  towards  perfection. 

A  middle-aged  ploughman  will  scarce  ever  be  brought  to 
the  carriage  and  language  of  a  gentleman,  though  his  body 
be  as  well-proportioned,  and  his  joints  as  supple,  and  his 
natural  parts  not  any  way  inferior.  The  legs  of  a  dancing- 
master  and  the  fingers  of  a  musician  fall  as  it  were  natur- 
ally, without  thought  or  pains,  into  regular  and  admirable 
motions.  Bid  them  change  their  parts,  and  they  will  in 
vain  endeavour  to  produce  like  motions  in  the  members 
not  used  to  them,  and  it  will  require  length  of  time  and 
long  practice  to  attain  but  some  degrees  of  a  like  ability. 
What  incredible  and  astonishing  actions  do  we  find  rope- 
dancers  and  tumblers  bring  their  bodies  to  !  Not  but 
that  sundry  in  almost  all  manual  arts  are  as  wonderful ; 
but  I  name  those  which  the  world  takes  notice  of  for  such, 
because  on  that  very  account  they  give  money  to  see 
them.  All  these  admired  motions,  beyond  the  reach  and 
almost  conception  of  unpractised  spectators,  are  nothing 
but  the  mere  effects  of  use  and  industry  in  men  whose 
bodies  have  nothing  peculiar  in  them  from  those  of  the 
amazed  lookers-on. 

As  it  is  in  the  body,  so  it  is  in  the  mind  :  practice  makes 
it  what  it  is  ;  and  most  even  of  those  excellencies  which  are 
looked  on  as  natural  endowments,  will  be  found,  when 
examined  into  more  narrowly,  to  be  the  product  of 
exercise,  and  to  be  raised  to  that  pitch  only  by  repeated 
actions.  Some  men  are  remarked  for  pleasantness  in 
raillery ;  others  for  apologues  and  opposite  diverting 
stories.  This  is  apt  to  be  taken  for  the  effect  of  pure 
nature,  and  that  the  rather  because  it  is  not  got  by  rules, 
and  those  who  excel  in  either  of  them  never  purposely 
set  themselves  to  the  study  of  it  as  an  art  to  be  learnt. 


4.  OF  PRACTICE  AND  HABITS  191 

But  yet  it  is  true,  that  at  first  some  lucky  hit,  which  took 
with  somebody  and  gained  him  commendation,  encouraged 
him  to  try  again,  inclined  Iris  thoughts  and  endeavours 
that  way,  till  at  last  he  insensibly  got  a  facility  in  it, 
without  perceiving  how  ;  and  that  is  attributed  wholly  to 
nature  which  was  much  more  the  effect  of  use  and  practice. 
I  do  not  deny  that  natural  disposition  may  often  give 
the  first  rise  to  it,  but  that  never  carries  a  man  far  without 
use  and  exercise  ;  and  it  is  practice  alone  that  brings  the 
powers  of  the  mind,  as  well  as  those  of  the  body,  to  their 
perfection.  Many  a  good  poetic  vein  is  buried  under  a 
trade,  and  never  produces  anything  for  want  of  improve- 
ment.^ We  see  the  ways  of  discourse  and  reasoning  are 
very  different,  even  concerning  the  same  matter,  at  court 
and  in  the  university.  And  he  that  will  go  but  from 
Westminster-hall^  to  the  Exchange  will  find  a  different 
genius  and  turn  in  their  ways  of  talking  ;  and  yet  one 
cannot  think  that  all  whose  lot  fell  in  the  city  were  born 
with  different  parts  from  those  who  were  bred  at  the 
university  or  inns  of  court. 

To  what  purpose  all  this  but  to  show  that  the  difference 
so  observable  in  men's  understandings  and  parts  does  not 
arise  so  much  from  their  natural  faculties  as  acquired 
habits.  He  would  be  laughed  at  that  should  go  about  to 
make  a  fine  dancer  out  of  a  country  hedger  at  past  fifty. 
And  he  will  not  have  much  better  success  who  shall  en- 
deavour at  that  age  to  make  a  man  reason  well,  or  speak 
handsomely,  who  has  never  been  used  to  it,  though  you 
should  lay  before  him  a  collection  of  all  the  best  precepts 
of  logic  or  oratory.  Nobody  is  made  anything  by  hearing 
of  rules  or  laying  them  up  in  his  memory  ;  practice  must 
settle  the  habit  of  doing,  without  reflecting  on  the  rule  ; 
and  you  may  as  well  hope  to  make  a  good  painter  or 
musician  extempore,  by  a  lecture  and  instruction  in  the 
arts  of  music  and  painting,  as  a  coherent  thinker  or  a 
strict  reasoner  by  a  set  of  rules  showing  him  wherein  right 
reasoning  consists.^ 

1  But  cf.  Thoughts,  sec.  174.  2  xhe  Law  Courts. 

3  Cf.  Thoughts,  sec.  188,  and  sees.  31,  43,  44  below. 


192  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

This  being  so  that  defects  and  weakness  in  men's  under- 
standings, as  well  as  other  faculties,  come  from  want  of  a 
right  use  of  their  own  minds,  I  am  apt  to  think  the  fault  is 
generally  mislaid  upon  nature,  and  there  is  often  a  com- 
plaint of  want  of  parts  when  the  fault  hes  in  want  of 
a  due  improvement  of  them.  We  see  men  frequently 
dexterous  and  sharp  enough  in  making  a  bargain  who  if 
you  reason  with  them  about  matters  of  rehgion,  appear 
perfectly  stupid.^ 

5.  Ideas. — I  will  not  here,  in  what  relates  to  the  right 
conduct  and  improvement  of  the  understanding,  repeat 
again  the  getting  clear  and  determined  ideas,  and  the 
employing  our  thoughts  rather  about  them  than  about 
sounds  put  for  them,  nor  of  setthng  the  signification  of 
words  which  we  use  with  ourselves  in  the  search  of  truth, 
or  with  others  in  discoursing  about  it.  Those  hindrances 
of  our  understandings  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  I  have 
sufficiently  enlarged  upon  in  another  place,^  so  that 
nothing  more  needs  here  to  be  said  of  those  matters. 

6.  Principles. — There  is  another  fault  that  stops  or  mis- 
leads men  in  their  knowledge  which  I  have  also  spoken 
something  of,  but  yet  is  necessary  to  m  ention  here  again, 
that  we  may  examine  it  to  the  bottom  and  see  the  root 
it  springs  from,  and  that  is,  a  custom  of  taking  up  with 
principles  that  are  not  self-evident,  and  very  often  not 
so  much  as  true.  It  is  not  unusual  to  see  men  rest  their 
opinions  upon  foundations  that  have  no  more  certainty 
and  sohdity  than  the  propositions  built  on  them  and 
embraced  for  their  sake.  Such  foundations  are  these  and 
the  like,  viz.,  the  founders  or  leaders  of  my  party  are  good 
men,  and  therefore  their  tenets  are  true  ;  it  is  the  opinion 
of  a  sect  that  is  erroneous,  therefore  it  is  false  ;  it  hath 
been  long  received  in  the  world,  therefore  it  is  true ;  or, 
it  is  new,  and  therefore  false. 

These,  and  many  the  like,  which  are  by  no  means  the 
measures  of  truth  and  falsehood,  the  generality  of  men 

^  See  sec.  28  and  note  thereon. 

2  Viz.  in  the  Essay  concerning  Human  Understanding.  See  par- 
ticularly iii.,  chap.  xi. 


6.  PRINCIPLES  193 

make  the  standards  by  which  they  accustom  their  under- 
standing to  judge.  And  thus,  they  falhng  into  a  habit 
of  determining  of  truth  and  falsehood  by  such  wrong 
measures,  it  is  no  wonder  they  should  embrace  error  for 
certainty,  and  be  very  positive  in  things  they  have  no 
ground  for. 

There  is  not  any  who  pretends  to  the  least  reason,  but 
when  any  of  these  his  false  maxims  are  brought  to  the 
test,  must  acknowledge  them  to  be  fallible,  and  such  as  he 
will  not  allow  in  those  that  differ  from  him  ;  and  yet  after 
he  is  convinced  of  this  you  shall  see  him  go  on  in  the  use 
of  them,  and  the  very  next  occasion  that  offers  argue  again 
upon  the  same  grounds.  Would  one  not  be  ready  to 
think  that  men  are  willing  to  impose  upon  themselves, 
and  mislead  their  own  understandings,  who  conduct  them 
by  such  wrong  measures,  even  after  they  see  they  cannot 
be  relied  on  ?  But  yet  they  will  not  appear  so  blameable 
as  may  be  thought  at  first  sight ;  for  I  think  there  are  a 
great  many  that  argue  thus  in  earnest,  and  do  it  not  to 
impose  on  themselves  or  others.  They  are  persuaded  of 
what  they  say,  and  think  there  is  weight  in  it,  though  in 
a  like  case  they  have  been  convinced  there  is  none  ;  but 
men  would  be  intolerable  to  themselves  and  contemptible 
to  others  if  they  should  embrace  opinions  without  any 
ground,  and  hold  what  they  could  give  no  manner  of 
reason  for.  True  or  false,  solid  or  sandy,  the  mind  must 
have  some  foundation  to  rest  itself  upon,  and,  as  I  have 
remarked  in  another  place,^  it  no  sooner  entertains  any 
proposition,  but  it  presently  hastens  to  some  hypothesis 
to  bottom  it  on  ;  till  then  it  is  unquiet  and  unsettled.  So 
much  do  our  own  very  tempers  dispose  us  to  a  right  use 
of  our  understandings  if  we  would  follow,  as  we  should, 
the  incHnations  of  our  nature. 

In  some  matters  of  concernment,  especially  those  of 
religion,  men  are  not  permitted  to  be  always  wavering 
and  uncertain,  they  must  embrace  and  profess  some  tenets 
or  other ;  and  it  would  be  a  shame,  nay  a  contradiction 
too  heavy  for  any  one's  mind  to  lie  constantly  under,  for 

^'  Cf.  Essay,  i.,  chap,  iii.,  sec.  24  ff. 

13 


194  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

him  to  pretend  seriously  to  be  persuaded  of  the  truth  of 
any  religion,  and  yet  not  to  be  able  to  give  any  reason  of 
his  belief,  or  to  say  anything  for  his  preference  of  this  to 
any  other  opinion :  and  therefore  they  must  make  use 
of  some  principles  or  other,  and  those  can  be  no  other 
than  such  as  they  have  and  can  manage  ;  and  to  say  they 
are  not  in  earnest  persuaded  by  them,  and  do  not  rest 
upon  those  they  make  use  of,  is  contrary  to  experience,^ 
and  [is]  to  allege  that  they  are  not  misled,  when  we  com- 
plain they  are. 

If  this  be  so,  it  will  be  urged,  why  then  do  they  not 
make  use  of  sure  and  unquestionable  principles,  rather 
than  rest  on  such  grounds  as  may  deceive  them,  and 
will,  as  is  visible,  serve  to  support  error  as  well  as 
truth  ? 

To  this  I  answer,  the  reason  why  they  do  not  make  use 
of  better  and  surer  principles  is  because  they  cannot :  but 
this  inability  proceeds  not  from  want  of  natural  parts  (for 
those  few,  whose  case  that  is,  are  to  be  excused)  but  for 
want  of  use  and  exercise.  Few  men  are  from  their  youth 
accustomed  to  strict  reasoning,  and  to  trace  the  depen- 
dence of  any  truth,  in  a  long  train  of  consequences,  to  its 
remote  principles,  and  to  observe  its  connexion ;  and  he 
that  by  frequent  practice  has  not  been  used  to  this  employ- 
ment of  his  understanding,  it  is  no  more  wonder  that  he 
should  not,  when  he  is  grown  into  years,  be  able  to  bring 
his  mind  to  it,  than  that  he  should  not  be  on  a  sudden 
able  to  grave  or  design,  dance  on  the  ropes,  or  write  a  good 
hand,  who  has  never  practised  either  of  them. 

Nay,  the  most  of  men  are  so  wholly  strangers  to  this 
that  they  do  not  so  much  as  perceive  their  want  of  it  : 
they  despatch  the  ordinary  business  of  their  callings  by 
rote,  as  we  say,  as  they  have  learnt  it ;  and  if  at  any  time 
they  miss  success,  they  impute  it  to  anything  rather  than 
want  of  thought  or  skill,  that  ^  they  conclude  (because  they 
know  no  better)  they  have  in  perfection :  or  if  there  be 

^  Cf.  sec.  1,  "  All  universally  pay  a  ready  submission  "  to  their 
own  ideas. 

2  I.e.,  "  which." 


6.  PRINCIPLES  195 

any  subject  that  interest  or  fancy  has  recommended  to 
their  thoughts,  their  reasoning  about  it  is  still  after  their 
own  fashion ;  be  it  better  or  worse,  it  serves  their  turns, 
aud  is  the  best  they  are  acquainted  with  ;  and  therefore, 
when  they  are  led  by  it  into  mistakes  and  their  business 
succeeds  accordingly,  they  impute  it  to  any  cross  accident 
or  default  of  others,  rather  than  to  their  own  want  of 
understanding ;  that  is  what  nobody  discovers  or  com- 
plains of  in  himself.  Whatsoever  made  his  business  to 
miscarry,  it  was  not  want  of  right  thought  and  judgment 
in  himself  :  he  sees  no  such  defect  in  himself,  but  is  satisfied 
that  he  carries  on  his  designs  well  enough  by  his  own 
reasoning,  or  at  least  should  have  done,  had  it  not  been 
for  unlucky  traverses^  not  in  his  power.  Thus,  being 
content  with  this  short  and  very  imperfect  use  of  his 
understanding,  he  never  troubles  himself  to  seek  out 
methods  of  improving  his  mind,  and  lives  all  his  life 
without  any  notion  of  close  reasoning  in  a  continued  con- 
nexion of  a  long  train  of  consequences  from  sure  founda- 
tions, such  as  is  requisite  for  the  making  out  and  clearing 
most  of  the  speculative  truths  most  men  own  to  believe 
and  are  most  concerned  in.  Not  to  mention  here  what  I 
shall  have  occasion  to  insist  on  by  and  by  more  fully,  viz., 
that  in  many  cases  it  is  not  one  series  of  consequences  will 
serve  the  turn,  but  many  different  and  opposite  deduc- 
tions must  be  examined  and  laid  together  before  a  man 
can  come  to  make  a  right  judgment  of  the  point  in 
question.2  What  then  can  be  expected  from  men  that 
neither  see  the  want  of  any  such  kind  of  reasoning  as  this  ; 
nor,  if  they  do,  know  how  to  set  about  it,  or  could  perform 
it  ?  You  may  as  well  set  a  countryman,  who  scarce 
knows  the  figures  and  never  cast[s]  up  a  sum  of  three 
particulars,  to  state  a  merchant's  long  account,  and  find 
the  true  balance  of  it. 

What  then  should  be  done  in  the  case  ?     I  answer,  we 

should  always  remember  what  I  said  above,  that  the 

faculties  of  our  souls  are  improved  and  made  useful  to  us 

just  after  the  same  manner  as  our  bodies  are.     Would 

*■  Thwarting  accidents.  ^  See  p.  199. 


196  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

you  have  a  man  write  or  paint,  dance  or  fence  well,  or 
perform  any  other  manual  operation  dexterously  and 
with  ease  ;  let  him  have  ever  so  much  vigour  and  activity, 
suppleness  and  address  naturally,  yet  nobody  expects 
this  from  him  unless  he  has  been  used  to  it,  and  has 
employed  time  and  pains  in  fashioning  and  forming  his 
hand  or  outward  parts  to  these  motions.  Just  so  it  is  in 
the  mind  ;  would  you  have  a  man  reason  well,  you  must 
use  him  to  it  betimes,  exercise  his  mind  in  observing  the 
connexion  of  ideas  and  following  them  in  train.^  Nothing 
does  this  better  than  mathematics,  which  therefore  I 
think  should  be  taught  all  those  who  have  the  time  and 
opportunity,  not  so  much  to  make  them  mathematicians 
as  to  make  them  reasonable  creatures  ;  for  though  we  all 
call  ourselves  so  because  we  are  born  to  it  if  we  please,  y-et 
we  may  truly  say,  nature  gives  us  but  the  seeds  of  it ;  we 
are  born  to  be,  if  we  please,  rational  creatures,  but  it  is 
use  and  exercise  only  that  makes  us  so,  and  we  are  indeed 
so  no  farther  than  industry  and  application  has  carried 
us.  And  therefore,  in  ways  of  reasoning  which  men 
have  not  been  used  to,  he  that  will  observe  the  conclu- 
sions they  take  up  must  be  satisfied  they  are  not  all 
rational. 

This  has  been  the  less  taken  notice  of,  because  every  one 
in  his  private  affairs  uses  some  sort  of  reasoning  or  other, 
enough  to  denominate  him  reasonable.  But  the  mistake 
is,  that  he  that  is  found  reasonable  in  one  thing  is  con- 
cluded to  be  so  in  all,  and  to  think  or  to  say  otherwise  is 
thought  so  unjust  an  affront  and  so  senseless  a  censure 
that  nobody  ventures  to  do  it.  It  looks  like  the  degra- 
dation of  a  man  below  the  dignity  of  his  nature.  It  is 
true,  that  he  that  reasons  well  in  any  one  thing,  has  a  mind 
naturally  capable  of  reasoning  well  in  others^nd  to  the 
same  degree  of  strength  and  clearness,  and  possibly  much 
greater,  had  his  understanding  been  so  employed.  But 
it  is  as  true  that  he  who  can  reason  well  to-day  about  one 
sort  of  matters,  cannot  at  all  reason  to-day  about  others, 
though  perhaps  a  year  hence  he  may.  But  wherever  a 
1  CJ.  Thoughts,  sec.  188. 


6.  PRINCIPLES  197 

man's  rational  faculty  fails  him,  and  will  not  serve  him 
to  reason,  there  we  cannot  say  he  is  rational,  how 
capable  soever  he  may  be  by  time  and  exercise  to 
become  so. 

Try  in  men  of  low  and  mean  education  who  have  never 
elevated  their  thoughts  above  the  spade  and  the  plough, 
nor  looked  beyond  the  ordinary  drudgery  of  a  day- 
labourer.  Take  the  thoughts  of  such  an  one,  used  for 
many  years  to  one  track,  out  of  that  narrow  compass  he 
has  been  all  his  life  confined  to,  you  will  find  him  no  more 
capable  of  reasoning  than  almost  a  perfect  natural.^ 
Some  one  or  two  rules  on  which  their  conclusions  immedi- 
ately depend,  you  will  find  in  most  men  have  governed 
all  their  thoughts  ;  these,  true  or  false,  have  been  the 
maxims  they  have  been  guided  by  :  take  these  from  them 
and  they  are  perfectly  at  a  loss,  their  compass  and  pole- 
star  then  are  gone,  and  their  understanding  is  perfectly 
at  a  nonplus ;  and  therefore  they  either  immediately 
return  to  their  old  maxims  again,  as  the  foundations  to 
all  truth  to  them,  notwithstanding  all  that  can  be  said 
to  show  their  weakness  ;  or  if  they  give  them  up  to  their 
reasons,  they  with  them  give  up  all  truth,  and  farther 
inquiry,  and  think  there  is  no  such  thing  as  certainty. 
For  if  you  would  enlarge  their  thoughts  and  settle  them 
upon  more  remote  and  surer  principles,  they  either  cannot 
easily  apprehend  them,  or,  if  they  can,  know  not  what  use 
ta  make  of  them,  for  long  deductions  from  remote 
principles  are  what  they  have  not  been  used  to  and  cannot 
manage. 

What,  then,  can  grown  men  never  be  improved  or 
enlarged  in  their  understandings  ?  I  say  not  so,  but  this  I 
think  I  may  say,  that  it  will  not  be  done  without  industry 
and  application,  which  will  require  more  time  and  pains 
than  grown  men,  settled  in  their  course  of  life,  will  allow 
to  it,  and  therefore  very  seldom  is  done.  And  this  very 
capacity  of  attaining  it  by  use  and  exercise  only,  brings  us 
back  to  that  which  I  laid  down  before,  that  it  is  only 
practice  that  improves  our  minds  as  well  as  bodies,  and 
^  I.e.,  idiot. 


198  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

we  must  expect  nothing  from  our  understandings  any- 
farther  than  they  are  perfected  by  habits.^ 

The  Americans  are  not  all  born  with  worse  under- 
standings than  the  Europeans,  though  we  see  none  of 
them  have  such  reaches  in  the  arts  and  sciences.  And 
among  the  children  of  a  poor  countryman,  the  lucky 
chance  of  education,  and  getting  into  the  world,  gives  one 
infinitely  the  superiority  in  parts  over  the  rest,  who  con- 
tinuing at  home  had  continued  also  just  of  the  same  size 
with  his  brethren. ^^ 

He  that  has  to  do  with  young  scholars,  especially  in 
mathematics,  may  perceive  how  their  minds  open  by 
degrees,  and  how  it  is  exercise  alone  that  opens  them. 
Sometimes  they  will  stick  a  long  time  at  a  part  of  a  demon- 
stration, not  for  want  of  will  and  appHcation,  but  really 
for  want  of  perceiving  the  connexion  of  two  ideas  that, 
to  one  whose  understanding  is  more  exercised,  is  as  visible 
as  anything  can  be.  The  same  would  be  with  a  grown 
man  beginning  to  study  mathematics,  the  understanding 
for  want  of  use  often  sticks  in  every  plain  way,  and  he 
himself  that  is  so  puzzled,  when  he  comes  to  see  the 
connexion,  wonders  what  it  was  he  stuck  at  in  a  case  so 
plain. 

7.  Mathematics. — I  have  mentioned  mathematics  as  a 
way  to  settle  in  the  mind  an  habit  of  reasoning  closely 
and  in  train  ;  not  that  I  think  it  necessary  that  all  men 
should  be  deep  mathematicians,  but  that,  having  got  the 
way  of  reasoning,  which  that  study  necessarily  brings  the 
mind  to,  they  might  be  able  to  transfer  it  to  other  parts 
of  knowledge  as  they  shall  have  occasion.  For  in  all  sorts 
of  reasoning  every  single  argument  should  be  managed 
as  a  mathematical  demonstration  ;  the  connexion  and 
dependence  of  ideas  should  be  followed,  tffl>the  mind  is 
brought  to  the  source  on  which  it  bottoms,  and  observes 
the  coherence  all  along,  though  in  proofs  of  probabihty 

1  Sec.  4. 

2  The  doctrine  of  heredity  discountenances  the  notion  that  "  the 
lucky  chance  of  education  "  explains  the  child's  superiority,  and  the 
scholarship  system  assumes  the  superiority  to  be  prior  to  the 
education. 


7.  MATHEMATICS  199 

one  such  train  is  not  enough  to  settle  the  judgment,  as  in 
demonstrative  knowledge. 

Where  a  truth  is  made  out  by  one  demonstration,  there 
needs  no  farther  inquiry  ;  but  in  probabilities,  where  there 
wants  demonstration  to  estabhsh  the  truth  beyond  doubt, 
there  it  is  not  enough  to  trace  one  argument  to  its 
source,  and  observe  its  strength  and  weakness,  but 
all  the  arguments,  after  having  been  so  examined  on 
both  sides,  must  be  laid  in  balance  one  against  another, 
and  upon  the  whole  the  understanding  determine  its 
assent. 

This  is  a  way  of  reasoning  the  understanding  should  be 
accustomed  to,  which  is  so  different  from  what  the 
illiterate  are  used  to,  that  even  learned  men  sometimes 
seem  to  have  very  little  or  no  notion  of  it.  Nor  is  it  to  be 
wondered,  since  the  way  of  disputing  in  the  schools^  leads 
them  quite  away  from  it,  by  insisting  on  one  topical 
argument,  by  the  success  of  which  the  truth  or  falsehood 
of  the  question  is  to  be  determined,  and  victory  adjudged 
to  the  opponent  or  defendant ;  which  is  all  one,  as  if  one 
should  balance  an  account  by  one  sum,  charged  and  dis- 
charged, when  there  are  an  hundred  others  to  be  taken 
into  consideration. 

This,  therefore,  it  would  be  well  if  men's  minds  were 
accustomed  to,  and  that  early  ;  that  they  might  not  erect 
their  opinions  upon  one  single  view  when  so  many  others 
are  requisite  to  make  up  the  account,  and  must  come  into 
the  reckoning  before  a  man  can  form  a  right  judgment. 
This  would  enlarge  their  minds  and  give  a  due  freedom 
to  their  understandings,  that  they  might  not  be  led  into 
error  by  presumption,  laziness,  or  precipitancy ;  for  I 
think  nobody  can  approve  such  a  conduct  of  the  under- 
standing as  should  mislead  it  from  truth,  though  it  be 
ever  so  much  in  fashion  to  make  use  of  it.^ 

To  this  perhaps  it  will  be  objected,  that  to  manage  the 
understanding  as  I  propose  would  require  every  man  to 

^  The  allusion  is  to  the  dialectical  exercises  for  degrees,  which 
survived  in  the  universities  long  after  Locke's  time.     Cf.  sees.  31,  43. 
2  I.e.,  the  "  conduct,"  or  method,  in  question. 


200  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

be  a  scholar,  and  to  be  furnished  with  all  the  materials 
of  knowledge  and  exercised  in  all  the  ways  of  reasoning. 
To  which  I  answer,  that  it  is  a  shame  for  those  that  have 
time  and  the  means  to  attain  knowledge,  to  want  any 
helps  or  assistance  for  the  improvement  of  their  under- 
standings that  are  to  be  got,  and  to  such  I  would  be 
thought  here  chiefly  to  speak.     Those  methinks,  who,  by 
the  industry  and  parts  of  their  ancestors,  have  been  set 
free  from  a  constant  drudgery  to  their  backs  and  their 
belhes,  should  bestow  some  of  their  spare  time  on  their 
heads,  and  open  their  minds  by  some  trials  and  essays,  in 
all  the  sorts  and  matters  of  reasoning.     I  have  before 
mentioned  mathematics,  wherein  algebra  gives  new  helps 
and  views  to  the  understanding.     If  I  propose  these,  it  is 
not,  as  I  said,  to  make  every  man  a  thorough  mathema- 
tician or  a  deep  algebraist ;  but  yet  I  think  the  study  of 
them  is  of  infinite  use,  even  to  grown  men  ;  first,  by 
experimentally  convincing  them  that  to  make  any  one 
reason  well  it  is  not  enough  to  have  parts  wherewith  he  is 
satisfied  and  that  serve  him  well  enough  in  his  ordinary 
course.     A  man  in  those  studies  will  see,  that  however 
good  he  may  think  his  understanding,  yet  in  many  things, 
and  those  very  visible,  it  may  fail  him.     This  would  take 
off  that  presumption  that  most  men  have  of  themselves 
in  this  part,  and  they  would  not  be  so  apt  to  think  their 
minds  wanted  no  helps  to  enlarge  them,  that  there  could 
be  nothing  added  to  the  acuteness  and  penetration  of 
their  understandings. 

Secondly,  the  study  of  mathematics  would  show  them 
the  necessity  there  is  in  reasoning,  to  separate  all  the 
distinct  ideas,  and  see  the  habitudes^  that  all  those  con- 
cerned in  the  present  inquiry  have  to  one  another,  and  to 
lay  by  those  which  relate  not  to  the  proposition  in  hand, 
and  wholly  to  leave  them  out  of  the  reckoning.  This  is 
that  which  in  other  subjects  besides  quantity,^  is  what  is 
absoutely  requisite  to  just  reasoning,  though  in  them  it 
is  not  so  easily  observed  nor  so  carefully  practised.  In 
those  parts  of  knowledge  where  it  is  thought  demon- 
^  Relations.  ^  -pj^e  subject-matter  of  mathematics. 


7.  MATHEMATICS— 8.  RELIGION  201 

stration  has  nothing  to  do,  men  reason  as  it  were  in  the 
lump  ;  and  if,  upon  a  summary  and  confused  view,  or 
upon  a  partial  consideration,  they  can  raise  the  appear- 
ance of  a  probability,  they  usually  rest  content,  especially 
if  it  be  in  a  dispute  where  every  Httle  straw  is  laid  hold  on, 
and  everything  that  can  but  be  drawn  in  any  way  to  give 
colour  to  the  argument  is  advanced  with  ostentation. 
But  that  mind  is  not  in  a  posture  to  find  the  truth  that  does 
not  distinctly  take  all  the  parts  asunder,  and  omitting 
what  is  not  at  all  to  the  point,  draw  a  conclusion  from  the 
result  of  all  the  particulars  which  any  way  influence  it. 
There  is  another  no  less  useful  habit  to  be  got  by  an 
application  to  mathematical  demonstrations,  and  that  is,  of 
using  the  mind  to  a  long  train  of  consequences  :  but  having 
mentioned  that  already,  I  shall  not  again  here  repeat  it. 

As  to  men  whose  fortunes  and  time  are  narrower,  what 
may  su£&ce  them  is  not  of  that  vast  extent  as  may  be 
imagined,  and  so  comes  not  within  the  objection. 

Nobody  is  under  an  obhgation  to  know  every  thing. 
Knowledge  and  science  in  general  is  the  business  only  of 
those  who  are  at  ease  and  leisure.  Those  who  have  par- 
ticular callings  ought  to  understand  them,  and  it  is  no 
unreasonable  proposal,  nor  impossible  to  be  compassed, 
that  they  should  think  and  reason  right  about  what  is 
their  daily  employment.  This  one  cannot  think  them 
incapable  of,  without  levelling  them  with  the  brutes  and 
charging  them  with  a  stupidity  below  the  rank  of  rational 
creatures. 

8.  Religion. — Besides    his    particular    calling    for    the  ( 
support  of  this  life,  every  one  has  a  concern  in  a  future  i  Yr\ 
life,  which  he  is  bound  to  look  after.     This  engages  his  [    Ho 
thoughts  in  religion,  and  here  it  mightily  lies  upon  himj 
to  understand  and  reason  right.     Men,  therefore,  cannot  | 
be  excused  from  understanding  the  words  and  framings 
the  general  notions  relating  to  religion  right.     The  one 
day  of  seven,  besides  other  days  of  rest,  allows  in  the 
christian  world  time  enough  for  this,  (had  they  no  other 
idle  hours),  if  they  would  but  make  use  of  these  vacancies 
from  their  daily  labour,   and  apply   themselves  to  an 


202  CONDUCT  OP  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

improvement  of  knowledge  with  as  much  dihgence  as 
they  often  do  to  a  great  many  other  things  that  are 
useless,  and  had  but  those  ^  that  would  enter  them, 
according  to  their  several  capacities,  in  a  right  way  to 
this  knowledge.  Th,e  original  make  of  their  minds  is  like 
that  of  other  men,  and  they  would  be  found  not  to  want 
understanding  fit  to  receive  the  knowledge  of  religion  if 
they  were  a  little  encouraged  and  helped  in  it  as  they 
should  be.  For  there  are  instances  of  very  mean  people 
who  have  raised  their  minds  to  a  great  sense  and  under- 
standing of  religion  ;  and  though  these  have  not  been  so 
frequent  as  could  be  wished,  yet  they  are  enough  to  clear 
that  condition  of  life  from  a  necessity  of  gross  ignorance, 
and  to  show  that  more  might  be  brought  to  be  rational 
creatures  and  christians,  (for  they  can  hardly  be  thought 
really  to  be  so  who,  wearing  the  name,  know  not  so  much 
as  the  very  principles  of  that  religion,)  if  due  care  were 
taken  of  them.  For,  if  I  mistake  not,  the  peasantry  lately 
in  France  (a  rank  of  people  under  a  much  heavier  pressure 
of  want  and  poverty  than  the  day-labourers  in  England)  ^ 
of  the  reformed  religion  understood  it  much  better  and 
could  say  more  for  it  than  those  of  a  higher  condition 
among  us. 

But  if  it  shall  be  concluded  that  the  meaner  sort  of 
people  must  give  themselves  up  to  brutish  stupidity  in 
the  tilings  of  their  nearest  concernment,  which  I  see  no 
reason  for,  this  excuses  not  those  of  a  freer  fortune  and 
education,  if  they  neglect  their  understandings,  and  take 
no  care  to  employ  them  as  they  ought  and  set  them  right 
in  the  knowledge  of  those  things  for  which  principally 
they  were  given  them.  At  least  those  whose  plentiful 
fortunes  allow  them  the  opportunities  and  helps  of 
improvement  are  not  so  few,  but  that  it  might  be  hoped 
great  advancements  might  be  made  in  knowledge  of  all 
kinds,  especially  in  that  of  the  greatest  concern  and  largest 
views,  if  men  would  make  a  right  use  of  their  faculties 
and  study  their  own  unrderstandings. 

^  I.e.,  if  they  had  but  teachers. 

2  Lccke  :'s  speakfrg  frcm  perscral  experience.     When  in  France, 
he  took  careful  rote  of  the  condition  of  the  peasantry. 


9.  IDEAS  203 

9.  Ideas. — Outward  corporeal  objects  that  constantly 
importune  our  senses  and  captivate  our  appetites,  fail  not 
to  fill  our  heads  with  lively  and  lasting  ideas  of  that- kind. 
Here  the  mind  needs  not  to  be  set  upon  getting  greater 
store  ;  they  offer  themselves  fast  enough,  and  are  usually 
entertained  in  such  plenty  and  lodged  so  carefully,  that 
the  mind  wants  room  or  attention  for  others  that  it  has 
more  use  and  need  of.     To  fit  the  understanding,  there- 
fore, for  such  reasoning  as  I  have  been  above  speaking  of, 
care  should  be  taken  to  fill  it  with  moral  and  more  abstract 
ideas  ;  for  these  not  offering  themselves  to  the  senses,  but 
being  to   be  framed   to  the  understanding,   people  are 
generally  so  neglectful  of  a  faculty  they  are  apt  to  think 
wants  nothing,  that  I  fear  most  men's  minds  are  more 
unfurnished  with  such  ideas  than  is  imagined.^     They 
often  use  the  words,  and  how  can  they  be  suspected  to 
want  the  ideas  ?     What  I  have  said  in  the  third  book  of 
my  essay  ^  will  excuse  me  from  any  other  answer  to  this 
question.     But  to  convince  people  of  what  moment  it  is 
to  their  understandings  to  be  furnished  with  such  abstract 
ideas,  steady  and  settled  in  them,  give  me  leave  to  ask 
how  any  one  shall  be  able  to  know  whether  he  be  obliged 
to  be  just,  if  he  has  not  established  ideas  in  his  mind  of 
obligation  and  of  justice,   since  knowledge  consists  in 
nothing  but  the  perceived  agreement  or  disagreement  of 
those  ideas  ?  and  so  of  all  others  the  like  which  concern 
our  lives  and  manners.     And  if  men  do  find  a  difficulty 
to  see  the  agreement  or  disagreement  of  two  angles  which 
lie  before  their  eyes  unalterable  in  a  diagram,  how  utterly 
impossible  will  it  be  to  perceive  it  in  ideas  that  have  no 
other  sensible  object  to  represent  them  to  the  mind  but 
sounds,  with  which  they  have  no  manner  of  conformity, 
and  therefore  had  need  to  be  clearly  settled  in  the  mind 
themselves,  if  we  would  make  any  clear  judgment  about 

^  The  criticism  applies  to  an  undue  prolongation  in  education 
of  what  may  be  called  the  perceptual  stage,  that  is,  "  sense- 
training,"  "  observation,"  and  "  kindergarten  methods  "  gener- 
ally.    Cf.  p.  186. 

2  Concerning  Hvman  Understanding,  chaps,  ix.,  x.,  xi. 


204  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

them  ?  This  therefore,  is  one  of  the  first  things  the  mind 
should  be  employed  about  in  the  right  conduct  of 
the  understanding,  without  which  it  is  impossible  it 
should  be  capable  of  reasoning  right  about  those 
matters.  But  in  these,  and  all  other  ideas,  care  must 
be  taken  that  they  harbour  no  inconsistencies,  and 
that  they  have  a  real  existence  where  real  existence  is 
supposed,  and  are  not  mere  chimeras^  with  a  supposed 
existence. 

10.  Prejudice. — Every  one  is  forward  to  complain  of  the 
prejudices  that  mislead  other  men  or  parties,  as  if  he  were 
free  and  had  none  of  his  own.     This  being  objected  on  all 
sides,  it  is  agreed  that  it  is  a  fault  and  an  hindrance  to 
knowledge.     What  now  is  the  cure  ?     No  other  but  this, 
that  every  man  should  let  alone  other[s']  prejudices  and 
examine  his  own.     Nobody  is  convinced  of  his  by  the 
accusation  of  another ;  he  recriminates  by  the  same  rule, 
and  is  clear.     The  only  way  to  remove  this  great  cause  of 
ignorance  and  error  out  of  the  world  is,  for  every  one 
impartially  to  examine  himself.     If  others  will  not  deal 
fairly  with  their  own  minds,  does  that  make  my  errors 
truths  ?  or  ought  it  to  make  me  in  love  with  them  and 
willing  to  impose  on  myself  ?     If  others  love  cataracts  in 
their  eyes,  should  that  hinder  me  from  couching^  of  mine 
as  soon  as  I  can  ?     Every  one  declares  against  bhndness, 
and  yet  who  almost  is  not  fond  of  that  which  dims  his 
sight,  and  keeps  the  clear  light  out  of  his  mind,  which 
should  lead  him  into  truth  and  knowledge  ?     False  or 
doubtful  positions,  relied  upon  as  unquestionable  maxims,, 
keep  those  in  the  dark  from  truth  who  build  on  them.  , 
Such  are  usually  the  prejudices  imbibed  from  education, 
party,  reverence,  fashion,  interest,  &c.     This  is  the  mote 
which  every  one  sees  in  his  brother's  eye,   but  never 
regards  the  beam  in  his  own.     For  who  is  there  almost 
that  is  ever  brought  fairly  to  examine  his  o^vn  principles, 
and  see  whether  they  are  such  as  will  bear  the  trial  ?     But 
yet    this  should    be  one  of   the  first  things  every   one 

^  Idle  fancies,  whose  existence  is  only  supposed,  not  actual. 
2  The  surgical  operation  for  removing  a  cataract. 


10.  PREJUDICE  205 

should  set  about,  and  be  scrupulous  in,  who  would  rightly 
conduct  his  understanding  in  the  search  of  truth  and 
knowledge. 

To  those  who  are  willing  to  get  rid  of  this  great  hin- 
drance of  knowledge  (for  to  such  only  I  write),  to  those 
who  would  shake  off  this  great  and  dangerous  impostor, 
prejudice,  who  dresses  up  falsehood  in  the  likeness  of  truth, 
and  so  dexterously  hoodwinks  men's  minds  as  to  keep 
them  in  the  dark  with  a  belief  that  they  are  more  in  the 
light  than  any  that  do  not  see  with  their  eyes,  I  shall  offer 
this  one  mark  whereby  prejudice  may  be  known.  He 
that  is  strongly  of  any  opinion  must  suppose  (unless  he  be 
self-condemned)  that  his  persuasion  is  built  upon  good 
grounds,  and  that  his  assent  is  no  greater  than  what  the 
evidence  of  the  truth  he  holds  forces  him  to,  and  that 
they  are  arguments,  and  not  inclination  or  fancy,  that 
make  him  so  confident  and  positive  in  his  tenets.  Now 
if,  after  all  his  profession,  he  cannot  bear  any  opposition 
to  his  opinion,  if  he  cannot  so  much  as  give  a  patient 
hearing,  much  less  examine  and  weigh  the  arguments  on 
the  other  side,  does  he  not  plainly  confess  it  is  prejudice 
governs  him  ?  and  it  is  not  the  evidence  of  truth,  but  some 
lazy  anticipation,  some  beloved  presumption  that  he 
desires  to  rest  undisturbed  in.  For  if  what  he  holds  be, 
as  he  gives  out,  well  fenced  with  evidence,  and  he  sees  it 
to  be  true,  what  need  he  fear  to  put  it  to  the  proof  ?  If 
his  opinion  be  settled  upon  a  firm  foundation,  if  the 
arguments  that  support  it  and  have  obtained  his  assent 
be  clear,  good,  and  convincing,  why  should  he  be  shy  to 
have  it  tried  whether  they  be  proof  or  not  ?  He  whose 
assent  goes  beyond  this  evidence,  owes  this  excess  of  his 
adherence  only  to  prejudice  ;  and  does  in  effect  own  it 
when  he  refuses  to  hear  what  is  offered  against  it, 
declaring  thereby  that  it  is  not  evidence  he  seeks, 
but  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  the  opinion  he  is  fond  of, 
with  a  forward  condemnation  of  all  that  may  stand  in 
opposition  to  it,  unheard  and  unexamined ;  which, 
what  is  it  but  prejudice?  "  qui  sBquum  statuerit,  parte 
inaudita   altera,  etiamsi    aequum   statuerit,  baud  sequus 


206  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

fuerit."^  He  that  would  acquit  himself  in  this  case  as  a 
lover  of  truth,  not  giving  way  to  any  pre-occupation  or 
bias  that  may  mislead  him,  must  do  two  things  that  are 
not  very  common  nor  very  easy. 

11.  Indifferency. — First,  he  must  not  be  in  love  with 
any  opinion,  or  wish  it  to  be  true  till  he  knows  it  to  be  so, 
and  then  he  will  not  need  to  wish  it ;  for  nothing  that  is 
false  can  deserve  our  good  wishes,  nor  a  desire  that  it 
should  have  the  place  and  force  of  truth  ;  and  yet  nothing 
is  more  frequent  than  this.  Men  are  fond  of  certain 
tenets  upon  no  other  evidence  but  respect  and  custom, 
and  think  they  must  maintain  them  or  all  is  gone,  though 
they  have  never  examined  the  ground  they  stand  on, 
nor  have  ever  made  them  out  to  themselves  :  or  can  make 
them  out  to  others  :  we  should  contend  earnestly  for  the 
truth,  but  we  should  first  be  sure  that  it  is  truth,  or  else 
we  fight  against  God,  who  is  the  God  of  truth,  and  do  the 
work  of  the  devil,  who  is  the  father  and  propagator  of 
lies  ;  and  our  zeal,  though  ever  so  warm,  will  not  excuse 
us,  for  this  is  plainly  prejudice. 

12.  Examine. — Secondly,  he  must  do  that  which  he  will 
find  himself  very  averse  to,  as  judging  the  thing  un- 
necessary, or  himself  incapable  of  doing  it.  He  must  try 
whether  his  principles  be  certainly  true  or  not,  and  how 
far  he  may  safely  rely  upon  them.  This,  whether  fewer 
have  the  heart  or  the  skill  to  do,  I  shall  not  determine, 
but  this  I  am  sure  is  that  which  every  one  ought  to  do 
who  professes  to  love  truth,  and  would  not  impose  upon 
himself,  which  is  a  surer  way  to  be  made  a  fool  of  than  by^ 
being  exposed  to  the  sophistry  of  others.  The  disposition  ^ 
to  put  any  cheat  upon  ourselves  works  constantly,  and 
we  are  pleased  with  it,  but  are  impatient  of  being  bantered 
or  misled  by  others.     The  inabiUty  I  here  speak  of,  is  not 

^  That  is,  a  man  has  but  small  claim  to  be  thought  just  who 
decides  upon  the  justice  of  a  cause  without  hearing  the  other  side, 
even  though  he  decides  rightly.  Fowler  (Locke's  Conduct  of  the 
Understanding)  quotes  Seneca's  Medea,  199,  200 : 

"  Qui  statuit  aliquid  parte  inaudita  altera, 
^quum  licet  statuerit,  baud  aequus  fuit." 


12.  EXAMINE  207 

any  natural  defect  that  makes  men  incapable  of  examining 
their  own  principles.  To  such,  rules  of  conducting  their 
understandings  are  useless ;  and  that  is  the  case  of  very 
few.  The  great  number  is  of  those  whom  the  ill  habit  of 
never  exerting  their  thoughts  has  disabled ;  the  powers 
of  their  minds  are  starved  by  disuse  and  have  lost  that 
reach  and  strength  which  nature  fitted  them  to  receive 
from  exercise.  Those  who  are  in  a  condition  to  learn  the 
first  rules  of  plain  arithmetic,  and  could  be  brought  to 
cast  up  an  ordinary  sum,  are  capable  of  this,  if  they  had 
but  accustomed  their  minds  to  reasoning ;  but  they  that 
have  wholly  neglected  the  exercise  of  their  understandings 
in  this  way,  will  be  very  far  at  first  from  being  able  to  do 
it,  and  as  unfit  for  it  as  one  unpractised  in  figures  to  cast 
up  a  shop-book,  and  perhaps  think  it  as  strange  to  be  set 
about  it.  And  yet  it  must  nevertheless  be  confessed  to  be 
a  wrong  use  of  our  understandings  to  build  our  tenets  (in 
things  where  we  are  concerned  to  hold  the  trath)  upon 
principles  that  may  lead  us  into  error.  We  take  our 
principles  at  hap-hazard  upon  trust,  and  without  ever 
having  examined  them,  and  then  beHeve  a  whole  system 
upon  a  presumption  that  they  are  true  and  solid :  and 
what  is  all  this  but  childish,  shameful,  senseless  credulity  ? 
In  these  two  things,  viz.,  an  equal  indifferency  for  all 
truth  (I  mean  the  receiving  it,  the  love  of  it,  as  truth,  but 
not  loving  it  for  any  other  reason,  before  we  know  it  to 
be  true)  and  in  the  examination  of  our  principles,  and  not 
receiving  any  for  such,  nor  building  on  them,  till  we  are 
fully  convinced  as  rational  creatures  of  their  sohdity,  truth, 
and  certainty,  consists  that  freedom  of  the  understanding 
which  is  necessary  to  a  rational  creature,  and  without 
which  it  is  not  truly  an  understanding.  It  is  conceit, 
fancy,  extravagance,  anything  rather  than  understanding, 
if  it  must  be  under  the  constraint  of  receiving  and  holding 
opinions  by  the  authority  of  anything  but  their  own,  not 
fancied,  but  perceived  evidence.  This  was  rightly  called 
imposition,  and  is  of  all  other  the  worst  and  moat  dan- 
gerous sort  of  it.  For  we  impose  upon  ourselves,  which 
is  the  strongest  imposition  of  all  others,  and  we  impose 


208  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

upon  ourselves  in  that  part  which  ought  with  the  greatest 
care  to  be  kept  free  from  all  imposition.  The  world  is  apt 
to  cast  great  blame  on  those  who  have  an  indifferency  ^  for 
opinions,  especially  in  rehgion.  I  fear  this  is  the  founda- 
tion of  great  error  and  worse  consequences.  To  be  in- 
different which  of  two  opinions  is  true,  is  the  right  temper 
of  the  mind  that  preserves  it  from  being  imposed  on,  and 
disposes  it  to  examine  with  that  indifferency  till  it  has 
done  its  best  to  find  the  truth  ;  and  this  is  the  only  direct 
and  safe  way  to  it.  But  to  be  indifferent  whether  we 
embrace  falsehood  or  truth  is  the  great  road  to  error. 
Those  who  are  not  indifferent  which  opinion  is  true  are 
guilty  of  this  ;  they  suppose,  without  examining,  that 
what  they  hold  is  true,  and  then  think  they  ought  to  be 
zealous  for  it.  Those,  it  is  plain  by  their  warmth  and 
eagerness,  are  not  indifferent  for  their  own  opinions,  but 
methinks  are  very  indifferent  whether  they  be  true  or 
false  ;  since  they  cannot  endure  to  have  any  doubts  raised 
or  objections  made  against  them,  and  it  is  visible  they 
never  have  made  any  themselves,  and  so  never  having 
examined  them,  know  not,  nor  are  concerned,  as  they 
should  be,  to  know  whether  they  be  true  or  false. 

These  are  the  common  and  most  general  miscarriages 
which  I  think  men  should  avoid  or  rectify  in  a  right 
conduct  of  their  understandings,  and  should  be  particu- 
larly taken  care  of  in  education.  The  business  whereof 
in  respect  of  knowledge,  is  not,  as  I  think,  to  perfect  a 
learner  in  all  or  any  one  of  the  sciences,  but  to  give-^s 
mind  that  freedom,  that  disposition,  and  those  habitB 
that  may  enable  him  to  attain  any  part  of  knowledge  he 
shall  apply  himself  to,  or  stand  in  need  of,  in  the  future 
course  of  his  life.^ 

This,  and  this  only,  is  well  principUng,  and  not  the 
instilling  a  reverence  and  veneration  for  certain  dogmas 
under  the  specious  titje  of  principles,  which  are  often  so 
remote  from  that  truth  and  evidence  which  belongs  to 
principles,  that  they  ought  to  be  rejected  as  false  and 
erroneous  ;  and  often  cause  men  so  educated  when  they 
1  Impartiality.  2  (jj^  Thoughts,  sees.  31-33,  75. 


12.  EXAMINE— 13.  OBSERVATIONS  209 

come  abroad  into  the  world  and  find  they  cannot  maintain 
the  principles  so  taken  up  and  rested  in,  to  cast  off  all 
principles,  and  turn  perfect  sceptics;  regardless  of  know- 
ledge and  virtue. 

There  are  several  weaknesses  and  defects  in  the  under- 
standing,  either  from  the  natural  temper  of  the  mind,  or 
ill  habits  taken  up,  which  hinder  it  in  its  progress  to 
knowledge.  Of  these  there  are  as  many,  possibly,  to  be 
found,  if  the  mind  were  thoroughly  studied,  as  there  are 
diseases  of  the  body,  each  whereof  clogs  and  disables  the 
understanding  to  some  degree,  and  therefore  deserves  to 
be  looked  after  and  cured.  I  shall  set  down  some  few 
to  excite  men,  especially  those  who  make  knowledge  their 
business,  to  look  into  themselves,  and  observe  whether 
they  do  not  indulge  some  weaknesses,  allow  some  mis- 
carriages in  the  management  of  their  intellectual  faculty 
which  is  prejudicial  to  them  in  the  search  of  truth. 

13.  Observations. — Particular  matters  of  fact  are  the 
undoubted  foundations  on  which  our  civil  and  natural 
knowledge  is  built :  the  benefit  the  understanding  makes 
of  them  is  to  draw  from  them  conclusions  which  may  be 
as  standing  rules  of  knowledge,  and  consequently  of 
practice.  The  mind  often  makes  not  that  benefit  it 
should  of  the  information  it  receives  from  the  accounts 
of  civil  or  natural  historians,  by  being  too  forward  or  too 
slow  in  making  observations  on  the  particular  facts 
recorded  in  them. 

There  are  those  who  are  very  assiduous  in  reading,  and 
yet  do  not  much  advance  their  knowledge  by  it.  They 
are  delighted  with  the  stories  that  are  told,  and  perhaps 
can  tell  them  again,  for  they  make  all  they  read  nothing 
but  history^  to  themselves  ;  but  not  reflecting  on  it,  not 
making  to  themselves  observations  from  what  they  read, 
they  are  very  little  improved  by  all  that  crowd  of  par- 
ticulars that  either  pass  through  or  lodge  themselves  in 
their  understandings.  They  dream  on  in  a  constant  course 
of  reading  and  cramming  themselves  ;  but  not  digesting 
anything,  it  produces  nothing  but  a  heap  of  crudities. 

^  That  is,  narrative  and  not  principles. 

14 


210  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UKDERSTANDING 

If  their  memories  retain  well,  one  may  say,  they  have 
the  materials  of  knowledge,  but  like  those  for  building 
they  are  of  no  advantage  if  there  be  no  other  use  made  of 
them  but  to  let  them  lie  heaped  up  together.  Opposite 
to  these  there  are  others,  who  lose  the  improvement  they 
should  make  of  matters  of  fact  by  a  quite  contrary  conduct. 
They  are  apt  to  draw  general  conclusions  and  raise  axioms 
from  every  particular  they  meet  with.  These  make  as 
little  true  benefit  of  history  as  the  other  ;  nay,  being  of 
forward  and  active  spirits,  receive  more  harm  by  it,  it 
being  of  worse  consequence  to  steer  one's  thoughts  by  a 
wrong  rule  than  to  have  none  at  all,  error  doing  to  busy 
men  much  more  harm  than  ignorance  to  the  slow  and 
sluggish.  Between  these,  those  seem  to  do  best  who, 
taking  material  and  useful  hints,  sometimes  from  single 
matters  of  fact,  carry  them  in  their  minds  to  be  judged 
of  by  what  they  shall  find  in  history  to  confirm  or  reverse 
their  imperfect  observations,  which  may  be  established 
into  rules  fit  to  be  relied  on,  when  they  are  justified  by  a 
sufficient  and  wary  induction  of  particulars.  He  that 
makes  no  such  reflection,  on  what  he  reads,  only  loads  his 
mind  with  a  rhapsody  of  tales,  fit  in  winter  nights  for  the 
entertainment  of  others ;  and  he  that  will  improve  every 
matter  of  fact  into  a  maxim,  will  abound  in  contrary 
observations  that  can  be  of  no  other  use  but  to  perplex 
and  pudder^  him  if  he  compares  them,  or  else  to  misguide 
him  if  he  gives  himself  up  to  the  authority  of  that^wfiich 
for  its  novelty  or  for  some  other  fancy  best  pleases  him.^ 

14.  Bias. — Next  to  these  we  may  place  those  who  suffer 
their  own  natural  tempers  and  passions  they  are  possessed 
with  to  influence  their  judgments,  especially  of  men  and 
things  that  may  any  way  relate  to  their  present  circum- 
stances and  interest.  Truth  is  all  simple,  all  pure,  will 
bear  no  mixture  of  anything  else  with  it.  It  is  rigid  and 
inflexible  to  any  by-interests,  and  so  should  the  under- 
standing be,  whose  use  and  excellency  lies  in  conforming 
itself  to  it.     To  think  of  everything  just  as  it  is  in  itself, 

^  "  Pother,"  "  bother." 

2  Topic  continued  in  sees.  20,  24,  42. 


14.  BIAS— 15.  AEGUMENTS  211 

is  the  proper  business  of  the  understanding,  though  it  be 
not  that  which  men  always  employ  it  to.  This  all  men 
at  first  hearing  allow  is  the  right  use  every  one  should 
make  of  his  understanding.  Nobody  will  be  at  such  an 
open  defiance  with  common  sense,  as  to  profess  that  we 
should  not  endeavour  to  know  and  think  of  things  as  they 
are  in  themselves  ;  and  yet  there  is  nothing  more  frequent 
than  to  do  the  contrary  ;  and  men  are  apt  to  excuse  them- 
selves, and  think  they  have  reason  to  do  so,  if  they  have 
but  a  pretence  that  it  is  for  God,  or  a  good  cause  ;  that 
is,  in  effect,  for  themselves,  their  own  persuasion  or  party  : 
for  those  in  their  turns  the  several  sects  of  men,  especially 
in  matters  of  religion,  entitle  God  and  a  good  cause. 
But  God  requires  not  men  to  wrong  or  misuse  their 
faculties  for  him,  nor  to  lie  to  others  or  themselves  for  his 
sake,  which  they  purposely  do  who  will  not  suffer  their 
understandings  to  have  right  conceptions  of  the  things 
proposed  to  them,  and  designedly  restrain  themselves 
from  having  just  thoughts  of  every  thing,  as  far  as  they 
are  concerned  to  inquire.  And  as  for  a  good  cause,  that 
needs  not  such  ill  helps ;  if  it  be  good,  truth  will  support 
it,  and  it  has  no  need  of  fallacy  or  falsehood. 

15.  Arguments. — Very  much  of-  kin  to  this  is  the 
hunting  after  arguments  to  make  good  one  side  of  a 
question,  and  wholly  to  neglect  and  refuse  those  which 
favour  the  other  side.  What  is  this  but  wilfully  to 
misguide  the  understanding,  and  is  so  far  from  giving 
truth  its  due  value,  that  it  wholly  debases  it :  [to]  espouse 
opinions  that  best  comport  with  their  power,  profit,  or 
credit,  and  then  seek  arguments  to  support  them  '?  Truth 
Hghted  upon  this  way,  is  of  no  more  avail  to  us  than  error, 
for  what  is  so  taken  up  by  us  may  be  false  as  well  as  true ; 
and  he  has  not  done  his  duty  who  has  thus  stumbled  upon 
truth  in  his  way  to  preferment. 

There  is  another  but  more  innocent  way  of  collecting 
arguments  very  familiar  among  bookish  men,  which  is  to 
furnish  themselves  with  the  arguments  they  meet  with 
pro  and  con  in  the  questions  they  study.  This  helps 
them  not  to  judge  right  nor  argue  strongly,  but  only  to 


212  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

talk  copiously  on  either  side  without  being  steady  and 
settled  in  their  own  judgments.  For  such  arguments 
gathered  from  other  men's  thoughts,  floating  only  in  the 
memory,  are  there  ready  indeed  to  supply  copious  talk 
with  some  appearance  of  reason,  but  are  far  from  helping 
us  to  judge  right.  Such  variety  of  arguments  only  dis- 
tract[s]  the  understanding  that  relies  on  them,  unless  it 
has  gone  farther  than  such  a  superficial  way  of  examining  ; 
this  is  to  quit  truth  for  appearance,  only  to  serve  our 
vanity.  The  sure  and  only  way  to  get  true  knowledge, 
is  to  form  in  our  minds  clear  settled  notions  of  things, 
with  names  annexed  to  those  determined  ideas.^  These 
we  are  to  consider  with  their  several  relations  and  habi- 
tudes, and  not  amuse  ourselves  mth  floating  names  and 
words  of  indetermined  signification  which  we  can  use  in 
several  senses  to  serve  a  turn.  It  is  in  the  perception  of 
the  habitudes  and  respects  our  ideas  have  one  to  another 
that  real  knowledge  consists,  and  when  a  man  once  per- 
ceives how  far  they  agree  or  disagree  one  with  another, 
he  will  be  able  to  judge  of  what  other  people  say,  and 
will  not  need  to  be  led  by  the  arguments  of  others,  which 
are  many  of  them  nothing  but  plausible  sophistry.  This 
will  teach  him  to  state  the  question  right,  and  see  whereon 
it  turns,  and  thus  he  will  stand  upon  his  own  legs,  and 
know  by  his  own  understanding.  Whereas  by  collecting 
and  learning  arguments  by  heart,  he  will  be  bufr-aretainer 
to  others  ;  and  when  any  one  questions  the  foundations 
they  are  built  upon,  he  ^vill  be  at  a  nonplus,^  and  be  fain 
to  give  up  his  implicit  knowledge.^ 

16.  Haste. — Labour  for  labour-sake  is  against  nature. 
The  understanding,  as  well  as  all  the  other  faculties, 
chooses  always  the  shortest  way  to  its  end,  would  pre- 
sently^ obtain  the  knowledge  it  is  about,  and  then  set 
upon  some  new  inquiry.  But  this,  whether  laziness  or 
haste,  often  misleads  it  and  makes  it  content  itself  with 

1  P.  184,  note.  ^  Will  be  unable  to  proceed. 

3  "Knowledge,"    so   called,    which    he    cannot    make  explicit; 
"  second-hand  or  implicit  knowledge,"  sec.  24. 
*  I.e.,  at  once. 


16.  HASTE  213 

improper  ways  of  search,  and  such  as  will  not  serve  the 
turn  :  sometimes  it  rests  upon  testimony,  when  testimony 
of  right  has  nothing  to  do,^  because  it  is  easier  to  believe- 
than  to  be  scientifically  instructed  :  sometimes  it  contents 
itself  with  one  argument,  and  rests  satisfied  with  that  as 
it  were  a  demonstration,  whereas  the  thing  under  proof 
is  not  capable  of  demonstration,  and  therefore  must  be 
submitted  to  the  trial  of  probabilities,  and  all  the  material 
arguments  pro  and  con  be  examined  and  brought  to  a 
balance.  In  some  cases  the  mind  is  determined  by  prob- 
able topics  in  inquiries  where  demonstration  may  be  had. 
All  these,  and  several  others,  which  laziness,  impatience, 
custom,  and  want  of  use  and  attention  lead  men  into,  are 
misapplications  of  the  understanding  in  the  search  of 
truth.  In  every  question  the  nature  and  manner  of  the 
proof  it  is  capable  of  should  be  considered,  to  make  our 
inquiry  such  as  it  should  be.  This  would  save  a  great  deal 
of  frequently  misemployed  pains,  and  lead  us  sooner  to 
that  discovery  and  possession  of  truth  we  are  capable  of. 
The  multiplying  variety  of  arguments,  especially  frivolous 
ones,  such  as  are  all  that  are  merely  verbal,  is  not  only 
lost  labour,  but  cumbers  the  memory  to  no  purpose,  and 
serves  only  to  hinder  it  from  seizing  and  holding  of  the 
truth  in  all  those  cases  which  are  capable  of  demonstration. 
In  such  a  way  of  proof,  the  truth  and  certainty  is  seen, 
and  the  mind  fully  possesses  itself  of  it ;  when  in  the  other 
way  of  assent  it  only  hovers  about  it,  is  amused  with 
uncertainties.  In  this  superficial  way,  indeed,  the  mind 
is  capable  of  more  variety  of  plausible  talk,  but  is  not 
enlarged,  as  it  should  be,  in  its  knowledge.  It  is  to  this 
same  haste  and  impatience  of  the  mind  also,  that  a  not 
due  tracing  of  the  arguments  to  their  true  foundation  is 
owing  ;  men  see  a  little,  presume  a  great  deal,  and  so 
jump  to  the  conclusion.  This  is  a  short  way  to  fancy 
and  conceit,  and  (if  firmly  embraced)  to  opinionatry,^ 

^  When  in  strictness  the  matter  does  not  call  for  testimony,  but 
for  demonstration. 

2  I.e.,  obstinate  and  unreasonable  adherence  to  one's  own  opinion. 
See  sec.  26. 


214  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

but  is  certainly  the  farthest  way  about  to  knowledge. 
For  he  that  will  know,  must  by  the  connexion  of  the 
proofs  see  the  truth  and  the  ground  it  stands  on  ;  and 
therefore  if  he  has  for  haste  skipt  over  what  he  should 
have  examined,  he  must  begin  and  go  over  all  again,  or 
else  he  will  never  come  to  knowledge.^ 

17.  Desultory. — Another  fault  of  as  ill  consequence  as 
this,  which  proceeds  also  from  laziness,  with  a  mixture  of 
vanity,  is  the  skipping  from  one  sort  of  knowledge  to 
another.  Some  men's  tempers  are  quickly  weary  of  one 
thing.  Constancy  and  assiduity  is  what  they  cannot 
bear  ;  the  same  study  long  continued  in  is  as  intolerable  to 
them,  as  the  appearing  long  in  the  same  clothes  or  fashion 
is  to  a  court-lady. 

18.  Smattering. — Others,  that  they  may  seem  univer- 
sally knowing,  get  a  little  smattering  in  everything. 
Both  these  may  fill  their  heads  with  superficial  notions  of 
things,  but  are  very  much  out  of  the  way  of  attaining 
truth  or  knowledge. 

19.  Universality. — I  do  not  here  speak  against  the 
taking  a  taste  of  every  sort  of  knowledge  ;  it  is  certainly 
very  useful  and  necessary  to  form  the  mind  ;  but  then  it 
must  be  done  in  a  different  way  and^ttKa  different  end. 
Not  for  talk  and  vanity  to  fill  the  head  with  shreds  of  all 
kinds,  that  he  who  is  possessed  of  such  a  frippery  ^  may 
be  able  to  match  the  discourses  of  all  he  shall  meet  with, 
as  if  nothing  could  come  amiss  to  liim,  and  his  head  was 
so  well  stored  a  mazagine,  that  nothing  could  be  proposed 
which  he  was  not  master  of,  and  was  readily  furnished 
to  entertain  any  one  on.  This  is  an  excellency  indeed, 
and  a  great  one  too,  to  have  a  real  and  true  knowledge  in 
all  or  most  of  the  objects  of  contemplation.  But  it  is 
what  the  mind  of  one  and  the  same  man  can  hardly  attain 
unto  ;  and  the  instances  are  so  few  of  those  who  have  in 
any  measure  approached  towards  it,  that  I  know  not 
whether  they  are  to  be  proposed  as  examples  in  the 

^  See  sec.  25. 

2  A  "  rag-fair."  Cf.  Thoughts,  sec.  193,  on  "  fitting  one's  self 
for  conversation." 


19.  UNIVERSALITY  215 

ordinary  conduct  of  the  understanding.     For  a  man  to 
understand  fully  the  business  of  his  particular  calling  in 
the  commonwealth,  and  of  religion,  which  is  his  calling 
as  he  is  a  man  in  the  world,  is  usually  enough  to  take  up 
his  whole  time,^  and  there  are  few  that  inform  themselves 
in   these,    which   is   every   man's   proper   and   peculiar 
business,   so  to  the  bottom  as  they  should   do.      But 
though  this  be  so,  and  there  are  very  few  men  that  extend 
their  thoughts  towards  universal  knowledge  ;  yet  I  do 
not  doubt  but  if  the  right  way  were  taken,  and   the 
methods  of  inquiry  were  ordered  as  they  should  be,  men 
of  little  business  and  great  leisure  might  go  a  great  deal 
farther  in  it  than  is  usually  done.     To  turn  to  the  business 
in  hand  ;  the  end  and  use  of  a  little  insight  in  those  parts 
of  knowledge  which  are  not  a  man's  proper  business,  is 
to  accustom  our  minds  to  all  sorts  of  ideas,  and  the 
proper  ways  of  examining  their  habitudes  and  relations. 
This  gives  the  mind  a  freedom,  and  the  exercising  the 
understanding  in  the  several  ways  of  inquiry  and  reasoning 
which  the  most  skilful  have  made  use  of,  teaches  the 
mind  sagacity  and  wariness,  and  a  suppleness  to  apply 
itself  more  closely  and  dexterously  to  the  bents  and  turns 
of  the  matter  in  all  its  researches.     Besides,  this  universal 
taste  of  all  the  sciences,  with  an  indifferency  before  the 
mind  is  possessed  with  any  one  in  particular,  and  grown 
into  love  and  admiration  of  what  is  made  its  darling,  will 
prevent  another  evil  very  commonly  to  be  observed  in 
those  who  have  from  the  beginning  been  seasoned  only 
by  one  part  of  knowledge.     Let  a  man  be  given  up  to  the 
contemplation  of  one  sort  of  knowledge,  and  that  will 
become  everything.     The  mind  will  take  such  a  tincture 
from  a  familiarity  w4th  that  object,  that  everything  else, 
how  remote  soever,  will  be  brought  under  the  same  view. 
A  metaphysician  will  bring  plowing  and  gardening  im- 
mediately to  abstract  notions,  the  history  of  nature  shall 
signify  nothing  to  him.     An  alchemist,  on  the  contrary, 

^  These  two  constitute  Locke's  conception  of  the  education  of 
persons  outside  the  leisured  class.  See  Introduction  ;  also  sec  8, 
above. 


216  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

shall  reduce  divinity  to  the  maxims  of  his  laboratory  : 
explain  morality  by  sal/  sulphur  and  mercury,  and 
allegorize  the  scripture  itself,  and  the  sacred  mysteries 
thereof,  into  the  philosopher's  stone.  And  I  heard  once 
a  man  who  had  a  more  than  ordinary  excellency  in  music 
seriously  accommodate  Moses's  seven  days  of  the  first 
week  to  the  notes  of  music,  as  if  from  thence  had  been 
taken  the  measure  and  method  of  the  creation.  It  is  of 
no  small  consequence  to  keep  the  mind  from  such  a 
possession,  which  I  think  is  best  done  by  giving  it  a  fair 
and  equal  view  of  the  whole  intellectual  world,  wherein 
it  may  see  the  order,  rank,  and  beauty  of  the  whole,  and 
give  a  just  allowance  to  the  distinct  provinces  of  the 
several  sciences  in  the  due  order  and  usefulness  of  each 
of  them. 

If  this  be  that  which  old  men  will  not  think  necessary, 
nor  be  easily  brought  to,  it  is  fit  at  least  that  it  should  be 
practised  in  the  breeding  of  the  young.  The  business  of 
education,  as  I  have  already  observed,^  is  not,  as  I  think, 
to  make  them  perfect  in  any  one  of  the  sciences,  but  so 
to  open  and  dispose  their  minds  as  may  best  make  them 
capable  of  any  when  they  shall  apply  themselves  to  it. 
If  men  are  for  a  long  time  accustomed  only  to  one  sort  or 
method  of  thoughts,  their  minds  grow  stiff  in  it,  and  do 
not  readily  turn  to  another.  It  is  therefore  to  give  them 
this  freedom  that  I  think  they  should  be  made  to  look 
into  all  sorts  of  knowledge,  and  exercise  their  under- 
standings in  so  wide  a  variety  and  stock  of  knowledge. 
But  I  do  not  propose  it  as  a  variety  and  stock  of  know- 
ledge, but  a  variety  and  freedom  of  tliinking ;  as  an 
increase  of  the  powders  and  activity  of  the  mind,  not  as  an 
enlargement  of  its  possessions. 

20.  Reading. — ^  This  is  that  which  I  think  great  readers 
are  apt  to  be  mistaken  in.  Those  who  have  read  of 
every  thing  are  thought  to  understand  every  thing  too  ; 
but  it  is  not  always  so.  Reading  furnishes  the  mind  only 
with  materials  of  knowledge,  it  is  thinking  makes  what 
we  read  ours.  We  are  of  the  ruminating  kind,  and  it  is 
1  Salt.  a  Sec.  12.  »  See  sees.  13,  24,  42. 


20.  EEADING  217 

not  enough  to  cram  our  selves  with  a  great  load  of  col- 
lections ;  unless  we  chew  them  over  again  they  will  not 
give  us  strength  and  nourishment.  There  are  indeed 
in  some  writers  visible  instances  of  deep  thoughts, 
close  and  acute  reasoning,  and  ideas  well  pursued.  The 
light  these  would  give  would  be  of  great  use  if  their 
reader  would  observe  and  imitate  them  ;  all  the  rest 
at  best  are  but  particulars  fit  to  be  turned  into  know- 
ledge ;  but  that  can  be  done  only  by  our  own  medita- 
tion and  examining  the  reach,  force,  and  coherence  of 
what  is  said,  and  then  as  far  as  we  apprehend  and 
see  the  connexion  of  ideas,  so  far  it  is  ours  ;  without 
that,  it  is  but  so  much  loose  matter  floating  in  our  brain. 
The  memory  may  be  stored,  but  the  judgment  is  little 
better,  and  the  stock  of  knowledge  not  increased  by  being 
able  to  repeat  what  others  have  said,  or  produce  the 
arguments  we  have  found  in  them.  Such  a  knowledge 
as  this  is  but  knowledge  by  hearsay,  and  the  ostentation 
of  it  is  at  best  but  talking  by  rote,  and  very  often  upon 
weak  and  wrong  principles.  For  all  that  is  to  be  found 
in  books  is  not  built  upon  true  foundations,  nor  always 
rightly  deduced  from  the  principles  it  is  pretended  to  be 
built  on.  Such  an  examen  as  is  requisite  to  discover 
that,  every  reader's  mind  is  not  forward  to  make,  especially 
in  those  who  have  given  themselves  up  to  a  party,  and 
only  hunt  for  what  they  can  scrape  together  that  may 
favour  and  support  the  tenets  of  it.  Such  men  wilfully 
exclude  themselves  from  truth,  and  from  all  true  benefit 
to  be  received  by  reading.  Others  of  more  indifferency^ 
often  want  attention  and  industry.  The  mind  is  back- 
ward in  itself  to  be  at  the  pains  to  trace  every  argument 
to  its  original,  and  to  see  upon  what  basis  it  stands  and 
how  firmly  ;  but  yet  it  is  this  that  gives  so  much  the  ad- 
vantage to  one  man  more  than  another  in  reading.  The 
mind  should  by  severe  rules  be  tied  down  to  this,  at  first, 
uneasy  task  ;  use  and  exercise  will  give  it  facility.  So 
that  those  who  are  accustomed  to  it  readily,  as  it  were 
with  one  cast  of  the  eye,  take  a  view  of  the  argument,  and 
^  Impartiality. 


218  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

presently,^  in  most  cases,  see  where  it  bottoms.  Those 
who  have  got  this  faculty,  one  may  say,  have  got  the  true 
key  of  books,  and  the  clue  to  lead  them  through  the 
mizmaze^  of  variety  of  opinions  and  authors  to  truth  and 
certainty.  This  young  beginners  should  be  entered  in, 
and  showed  the  use  of,  that  they  might  profit  by  their 
reading.  Those  who  are  strangers  to  it  will  be  apt  to 
think  it  too  great  a  clog  in  the  way  of  men's  studies,  and 
they  will  suspect  they  shall  make  but  small  progress  if, 
in  the  books  they  read,  they  must  stand  to  examine  and 
unravel  every  argument,  and  follow  it  step  by  step  up 
to  its  original. 

I  answer,  this  is  a  good  objection,  and  ought  to  weigh 
with  those  whose  reading  is  designed  for  much  talk  and 
little  knowledge,  and  I  have  nothing  to  say  to  it.  But  I 
am  here  inquiring  into  the  conduct  of  the  understanding  in 
its  progress  towards  knowledge  ;  and  to  those  who  aim  at 
that  I  may  say,  that  he  who  fair  and  softly  goes  steadily 
forward  in  a  course  that  points  right,  will  sooner  be  at  his 
journey's  end  than  he  that  runs  after  every  one  he  meets, 
though  he  gallop  all  day  full  speed. 

To  which  let  me  add,  that  this  way  of  thinking  on  and 
profiting  by  what  we  read  will  be  a  clog  and  rub  to  any 
one  only  in  the  beginning :  when  custom  and  exercise 
have  made  it  familiar,  it  will  be  despatched  on  most 
occasions  without  resting  or  interruption  in  the  course  of 
our  reading.  The  motions  and  views  of  a  mind  exercised 
that  way  are  wonderfully  quick,  and  a  man  used  to  such 
sort  of  reflections  sees  as  much  at  one  glimpse  as  would 
require  a  long  discourse  to  lay  before  another,  and  make 
out  in  an  entire  and  gradual  deduction.  Besides  that, 
when  the  first  difficulties  are  over,  the  delight  and  sensible 
advantage  it  brings  mightily  encourages  and  enlivens  the 
mind  in  reading,  which  without  this  is  very  improperly 
called  study. 

21.  Intermediate  Principles. — As  a  help  to  this,  I  think 
it  may  be  proposed,  that  for  the  saving  the  long  progres- 
sion of  the  thoughts  to  remote  and  first  principles  in  every 
^  I.e.,  at  once.  ^  I.e.,  maze  ;  cf.  "  tee-total," 


21.   INTERMEDIATE  PRINCIPLES  219 

case,  the  mind  should  provide  it^  several  stages  ;  that  is  to 
say,  intermediate  principles  which  it  might  have  recourse 
to  in  the  examining  those  positions  that  come  in  its  way. 
These,  though  they  are  not  self-evident  principles,  yet 
if  they  had  been  made  out  from  them  by  a  wary  and 
unquestionable  deduction,  may  be  depended  on  as  certain 
and  infallible  truths,  and  serve  as  unquestionable  truths 
to  prove  other  points  depending  on  them  by  a  nearer  and 
shorter  view  than  [by]  remote  and  general  maxims.^ 
These  may  serve  as  landmarks  to  show  what  lies  in  the 
direct  way  of  truth,  or  is  quite  beside  it.  And  thus 
mathematicians  do,  who  do  not  in  every  new  problem  run 
it  back  to  the  first  axioms,  through  all  the  whole  train  of 
intermediate  propositions.  Certain  theorems  that  they 
have  settled  to  themselves  upon  sure  demonstration, 
serve  to  resolve  to  them  multitudes  of  propositions  which 
depend  on  them,  and  are  as  firmly  made  out  from  thence 
as  if  the  mind  went  afresh  over  every  link  of  the  whole 
chain  that  ties  them  to  first  self-evident  principles.  Only 
in  other  sciences  great  care  is  to  be  taken  that  they 
establish  those  intermediate  principles  with  as  much 
caution,  exactness,  and  indifferency  as  mathematicians 
use  in  the  settUng  any  of  their  great  theorems.  When 
this  is  not  done,  but  men  take  up  the  principles  in  this 
or  that  science  upon  credit,  inclination,  interest,  &c.,  in 
haste,  without  due  examination  and  most  unquestionable 
proof,  they  lay  a  trap  for  themselves,  and,  as  much  as  in 
them  lies,  captivate  their  understandings,  to  mistake 
falsehood  and  error. 

^  "  It "  is  equivalent  to  "  the  progression,  or  course,  of  the 
thoughts,"  "  the  flow  of  thought."  The  mind  should  provide 
several  stages  for  the  course  of  thought. 

2  Cf.  Bacon,  Nomim  Organum,  I.  civ.  "  Nor  can  we  suffer  the 
understanding  to  jump  and  fly  from  particulars  to  reniote  and 
most  general  axioms  .  .  .  and  thus  prove  and  make  out  their 
intermediate  axioms  according  to  the  supposed  unshaken  truth  of 
the  former.  .  .  .  We  can  then  only  augur  well  for  the  sciences, 
when  the  ascent  shall  proceed  by  a  true  scale  and  successive  steps, 
without  interruption,  or  breach,  from  particulars  to  the  lesser 
axioms,  thence  to  the  intermediate  (rising  one  above  the  other), 
and  lastly  to  the  most  general." 


220  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

22.  Partiality. — As  there  is  a  partiality  to  opinions, 
which,  as  we  have  already  observed,  is  apt  to  mislead  the 
understanding,  so  there  is  often  a  partiality  to  studies 
which  is  prejudicial  also  to  knowledge  and  improvement. 
Those  sciences  which  men  are  particularly  versed  in  they 
are  apt  to  value  and  extol,  as  if  that  part  of  knowledge 
which  every  one  has  acquainted  himself  with  were  that 
alone  which  was  worth  the  having,  and  all  the  rest  were 
idle  and  empty  amusements,  comparatively  of  no  use  or 
importance.  This  is  the  effect  of  ignorance  and  not  know- 
ledge, the  being  vainly  puffed  up  with  a  flatulency  arising 
from  a  weak  and  narrow  comprehension.  It  is  not  amiss 
that  every  one  should  relish  the  science  that  he  has  made 
his  peculiar  study  ;  a  view  of  its  beauties  and  a  sense  of 
its  usefulness  carries  a  man  on  with  the  more  deUght  and 
warmth  in  the  pursuit  and  improvement  of  it.  But  the 
contempt  of  all  other  knowledge,  as  if  it  were  nothing  in 
comparison  of  law  or  physic,  of  astronomy  or  chemistry,^ 
or  perhaps  some  yet  meaner  part  of  knowledge  wherein 
I  have  got  some  smattering  or  am  somewhat  advanced, 
is  not  only  the  mark  of  a  vain  or  little  mind,  but  does  this 
prejudice  in  the  conduct  of  the  understanding,  that  it 
coops  it  up  within  narrow  bounds,  and  hinders  it  looking 
abroad  into  other  provinces  of  the  intellectual  world, 
more  beautiful  possibly,  and  more  fruitful  than  thai 
which  it  had  till  then  laboured  in,  wherein  it  might  find, 
besides  new  knowledge,  ways  or  hints  whereby  it  might 
be  enabled  the  better  to  cultivate  its  own. 

23.  Theology. — There  is  indeed  one  science  (as  they  are 
now  distinguished)  incomparably  above  all  the  rest,  where 

1  Chemistry  was  a  favourite  study  with  the  seventeenth -century 
amateur.  Anthony  Wood  says  that  in  1663  he  and  "  John  Lock" 
were  members  of  a  private  chemistry  club,  or  class,  at  Oxford. 
"  This  J.  L.  was  a  man  of  a  turbulent  spirit,  clamorous  and  never 
contented.  The  club  wrote  and  took  notes  from  the  mouth  of  their 
master,  who  sate  at  the  upper  end  of  a  table,  but  the  said  J.  Lock 
scorned  to  do  it ;  so  that  while  every  man  besides  of  the  club  were 
writing,  he  would  be  prating  and  troublesome."  (Clark,  Life  and 
Times  of  Anthony  Wood,  vol.  i.,  p.  472.  Not  everything  can  be 
accepted  which  Wood  says  of  a  political  opponent. 


23.  THEOLOGY— 24.  PAKTIALITY  221 

it  is  not  by  corruption  narrowed  into  a  trade  or  faction 
for  mean  or  ill  ends  and  secular  interests  ;  I  mean  theology, 
which,  containing  the  knowledge  of  God  and  his  creatures, 
our  duty  to  him  and  our  fellow-creatures,  and  a  view  of  .' 
our  present  and  future  state,  is  the  comprehension  of  all 
other  knowledge  directed  to  its  true  end  ;  i.e.,  the  honour 
and  veneration  of  the  Creator  and  the  happiness  of  man- 
kind.    This  is  that  noble  study  which  is  every  man's  ^ 
duty,  and  every  one  that  can  be  called  a  rational  creature 
is  capable  of.     The  works  of  nature  and  the  words  of 
revelation  display  it  to  mankind  in  characters  so  large  and 
visible,  that  those  who  are  not  quite  blind  may  in  them 
read  and  see  the  first  principles  and  most  necessary  parts 
of  it ;  and  from  thence,  as  they  have  time  and  industry, 
may  be  enabled  to  go  on  to  the  more  abstruse  parts  of  it. 
and  penetrate  into  those  infinite  depths  filled  with  the 
treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.     This  is  that  science  j   rs. 
which  would  truly  enlarge  men's  minds,  were  it  studied  u  %/ 
or  permitted  to  be  studied  everywhere  with  that  freedom, " 
love  of  truth,  and  charity  which  it  teaches,  and  were  not  j 
made,    contrary   to   its   nature,    the   occasion   of   strife,  [ 
faction,  malignity,  and  narrow  impositions.     I  shall  sayo 
no  more  here  of  this,  but  that  it  is  undoubtedly  a  wrong 
use  of  my  understanding  to  make  it  the  rule  and  measure 
of  another  man's,  a  use  which  it  is  neither  fit  for  nor 
capable  of. 

24.  Partiality.^ — This  partiality,  where  it  is  not  per- 
mitted an  authority  to  render  all  other  studies  insignificant 
or  contemptible,  is  often  indulged  so  far  as  to  be  relied 
upon  and  made  use  of  in  other  parts  of  knowledge  to 
which  it  does  not  at  all  belong,  and  wherewith  it  has  no 
manner  of  afiinity.  Some  men  have  so  used  their  heads 
to  mathematical  figures,  that  giving  a  preference  to  the 
methods  of  that  science,  they  introduce  lines  and  diagrams 
into  their  study  of  divinity  or  pohtic'^  inquiries,  as  if 
notliing  could  be  known  without  them ;  and  others 
accustomed  to  retired  speculations  run  natural  philosophy 
into  metaphysical  notions  and  the  abstract  generalities 

^  Continuation  of  sec.  22,  23  being  a  digression.         ^  FoliticaL 


222         CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

of  logic  ;  and  how  often  may  one  meet  with  rehgion  and 
morality  treated  of  in  the  terms  of  the  laboratory,  and 
thought  to  be  improved  by  the  methods  and  notions  of 
chemistry  ?  But  he  that  will  take  care  of  the  conduct  of 
his  understanding,  to  direct  it  right  to  the  knowledge  of 
things,  must  avoid  those  undue  mixtures,  and  not  by  a 
fondness  for  what  he  has  found  useful  and  necessary  in 
one,  transfer  it  to  another  science,  where  it  serves  only  to 
perplex  and  confound  the  understanding.  It  is  a  certain 
truth  that  "  res  nolunt  male  administrari  ;"^  it  is  no  less 
certain  "  res  nolunt  male  intelligi."^  Things  themselves 
are  to  be  considered  as  they  are  in  them  selves,  and  then 
they  will  show  us  in  what  way  they  are  to  be  understood. 
For  to  have  right  conceptions  about  them  we  must  bring 
our  understandings  to  the  inflexible  natures  and  unalter- 
able relations  of  things,  and  not  endeavour  to  bring  things 
to  any  preconceived  notions  of  our  own. 

There  is  another  partiality  very  commonly  observable 
in  men  of  study,  no  less  prejudicial  or  ridiculous  than  the 
former,  and  that  is  a  fantastical  and  wild  attributing  all 
knowledge  to  the  ancients  alone,  or  to  the  moderns.  This 
raving  upon  antiquity  in  matter  of  poetry,  Horace  has 
wittily  described  and  exposed  in  one  of  his  satires.-^  The 
same  sort  of  madness  may  be  found  in  reference  to  all  the 
other  sciences.  Some  will  not  admit  an  opinion  not 
authorized  by  men  of  old,  who  were  then  all  giants  in 
knowledge.  Nothing  is  to  be  put  into  the  treasury  of 
truth  or  knowledge  wliich  has  not  the  stamp  of  Greece  or 
Kome  upon  it,  and  since  their  days^  will  scarce  allow  that 
men  have  been  able  to  see,  think  or  write.  Others,  with  a 
like  extravagancy,  contemn  all  that  the  ancients  have  left 
us,  and  being  taken  with  the  modern  inventions  and  dis- 
coveries, lay  by  all  that  went  before,  as  if  whatever  is 
called  old  must  have  the  decay  of  time  upon  it,  and  truth 
too  were  liable  to  mould  and  rottenness.  Men  I  think 
have  been  much  the  same  for  natural  endowments  in  all 

^  Affairs  will  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  badly  administered. 

2  Affairs  wiU  not  submit  to  be  misunderstood. 

3  Epistles,  bk.  ii.,  ep.  1,  34  ff.  *  Subaud.  "  seme." 


24.  PARTIALITY  223 

times.  Fashion,  discipline,  and  education  have  put 
eminent  differences  in  the  ages  of  several  countries,  and 
made  one  generation  much  differ  from  another  in  arts 
and  sciences  :  but  truth  is  always  the  same  :  time  alters  it 
not,  nor  is  it  the  better  or  worse  for  being  of  ancient  or 
modern  tradition.  Many  were  eminent  in  former  ages  of 
the  world  for  their  discovery  and  delivery  of  it ;  but 
though  the  knowledge  they  have  left  us  be  worth  our  study, 
yet  they  exhausted  not  all  its  treasure  ;  they  left  a  great 
deal  for  the  industry  and  sagacity  of  after-ages,  and  so 
shall  we.  That  was  once  new  to  them  which  any  one 
now  receives  with  veneration  for  its  antiquity,  nor  was  it 
the  worse  for  appearing  as  a  novelty  ;  and  that  which  is 
now  embraced  for  its  newness,  will  to  posterity  be  old, 
but  not  thereby  be  less  true  or  less  genuine.  There  is 
no  occasion  on  this  account  to  oppose  the  ancients  and 
the  moderns  to  one  another,  or  to  be  squeamish  on  either 
side.^  He  that  wisely  conducts  his  mind  in  the  pursuit 
of  knowledge,  will  gather  what  lights  and  get  what  helps 
he  can  from  either  of  them,  from  whom  they  are  best  to  be 
had,  without  adoring  the  errors  or  rejecting  the  truths 
wliich  he  may  find  mingled  in  them. 

Another  partiality  may  be  observed  in  some  to  vulgar, 
in  others  to  heterodox  tenets  ;  some  are  apt  to  conclude 
that  what  is  the  common  opinion  cannot  but  be  true  :  so 
many  men's  eyes  they  think  cannot  but  see  right ;  so 
many  men's  understandings  of  all  sorts  cannot  be  deceived ; 
and  therefore  will  not  venture  to  look  beyond  the  received 
notions  of  the  place  and  age,  nor  have  so  presumptuous  a 
thought  as  to  be  wiser  than  their  neighbours.  They  are 
content  to  go  with  the  crowd,  and  so  go  easil}^  which  they 
think  is  going  right,  or  at  least  serves  them  as  well.  But 
however  "  vox  populi  vox  Dei  "  has  prevailed  as  a  maxim, 
yet  I  do  not  remember  wherever  God  delivered  his  oracles 

^  A  characteristic  attitude  towards  the  controversy  then  raging 
concerning  the  respective  merits  of  ancient  and  modern  learning. 
Up  to  1693,  Perrault  and  Fontenelle  in  France,  and  Temple  in 
England  had  been  prominent  in  the  discussion ;  Bentley  and  Swift 
were  the  most  notable  contributors  at  a  later  date.  See  A. 
Guthkelch's  The  Baltle  of  the  Books,  etc.,  1908. 


224  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

by  the  multitude,  or  nature,  truths  by  the  herd.  On  the 
other  side,  some  fly  all  common  opinions  as  either  false  or 
frivolous.  The  title  of  many-headed  beast  is  a  sufficient 
reason  to  them  to  conclude  that  no  truths  of  weight  or 
consequence  can  be  lodged  there.  Vulgar  opinions  are 
suited  to  vulgar  capacities,  and  adapted  to  the  ends  of  those 
that  govern.  He  that  will  know  the  truth  of  things  must 
leave  the  common  and  beaten  track,  which  none  but  weak 
and  servile  minds  are  satisfied  to  trudge  along  continually 
in.  Such  nice  palates  relish  notliing  but  strange  notions 
quite  out  of  the  way  :  whatever  is  commonly  received  has 
the  mark  of  the  beast  on  it,  and  they  think  it  a  lessening 
to  them  to  hearken  to  it  or  receive  it :  their  mind  runs 
only  after  paradoxes  ;  these  they  seek,  these  they  embrace, 
these  alone  they  vent,  and  so  as  they  think  distinguish 
themselves  from  the  vulgar.  But  common  or  uncommon 
are  not  the  marks  to  distinguish  truth  or  falsehood,  and 
therefore  should  not  be  any  bias  to  us  in  our  inquiries. 
We  should  not  judge  of  things  by  men's  opinions,  but  of 
opinions  by  things.  The  multitude  reason  but  ill,  and 
therefore  may  be  well  suspected,  and  cannot  be  relied  on, 
nor  should  be  followed  as  a  sure  guide ;  but  pliilosophers 
who  have  quitted  the  orthodoxy  of  the  community  and 
the  popular  doctrines  of  their  countries  have  fallen  into  as 
extravagant  and  as  absurd  opinions  as  ever  common 
reception  countenanced.  It  would  be  madness  to  refuse 
to  breathe  the  common  air  or  quench  one's  thirst  with 
water,  because  the  rabble  use  them  to  these  purposes ; 
and  if  there  are  conveniences  of  life  which  common  use 
reaches  not,  it  is  not  reason  to  reject  them  because  they  are 
not  grown  into  the  ordinary  fashion  of  the  country,  and 
every  villager  doth  not  know  them. 

Truth,  whether  in  or  out  of  fashion,  is  the  measure  of 
knowledge  and  the  business  of  the  understanding ;  what- 
soever is  besides  that,  however  authorized  by  consent  or 
recommended  by  rarity,  is  nothing  but  ignorance  or  some- 
thing worse. 

Another  sort  of  partiality  there  is,  whereby  men  impose 
upon  them  selves ;  and  by  it  make  their  reading  Httle  useful 


24.  PARTIALITY  225 

to  themselves ;  I  mean  the  making  use  of  the  opinions  of 
writers  and  laying  stress  upon  their  authorities  wherever 
they  find  them  to  favour  their  own  opinions. 

There  is  nothing  almost  has  done  more  harm  to  men 
dedicated  to  letters  than  giving  the  name  of  study  to 
reading,^  and  making  a  man  of  great  reading  to  be  the 
same  with  a  man  of  great  knowledge,  or  at  least  to  be  a 
title  of  honour.  All  that  can  be  recorded  in  writing  are 
only   facts    or   reasonings.     Facts    are    of    three    sorts : 

(1)  Merely  of  natural  agents  observable  in  the  ordinary 
operations  of  bodies  one  upon  another,  whether  in  the 
visible  course  of  things  left  to  themselves,  or  in  experi- 
ments made  by  them,^  applying  agents  and  patients  to 
one    another    after  a  peculiar    and    artificial    manner. 

(2)  Of  voluntary  agents,  more  especially  the  actions  of 
men  in  society,  which  makes  civil  and  moral  history. 

(3)  Of  opinions. 

In  these  three  consists,  as  it  seems  to  me,  that  which 
commonly  has  the  name  of  learning  ;  to  which  perhaps 
some  may  add  a  distinct  head  of  critical  writings,  which 
indeed  at  bottom  is  nothing  but  matter  of  fact,  and 
resolves  itself  into  this,  that  such  a  man  or  set  of  men 
used  such  a  word  or  phrase  in  such  a  sense,  i.e.,  that  they 
made  such  sounds  the  marks  of  such  ideas.^ 

Under  reasonings  I  comprehend  all  the  discoveries  of 
general  truths  made  by  human  reason,  whether  found  by 
intuition,  demonstration,  or  probable  deductions.  And 
this  is  that  which  is,  if  not  alone  knowledge  (because  the 
truth  or  probabihty  of  particular  propositions  may  be 
known  too),  yet  is,  as  may  be  supposed,  most  properly  the 
business  of  those  who  pretend  to  improve  their  under- 
standings and  make  themselves  knowing  by  reading. 

Books  and  reading  are  looked  upon  to  be  the  great  helps 
of  the  understanding  and  instruments  of  knowledge,  as  it 
must  be  allowed  that  they  are  ;  and  yet  I  beg  leave  to 
question  whether  these  do  not  prove  an  hindrance  to 
many,  and  keep  several  bookish  men  from  attaining  to 

^  See  sees.  13,  20.  ^  I.e.,  "  by  means  of  them." 

^  Characteristic  of  Locke  to  ignore  aesthetic  criticism. 

16 


226  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

solid  and  true  knowledge.  This  I  think  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  say.  that  there  is  no  part  wherein  the  under- 
standing needs  a  more  careful  and  wary  conduct  than  in 
the  use  of  books  ;  without  which  they  will  prove  rather 
innocent  amusements  than  profitable  employments  of  our 
time,  and  bring  but  small  additions  to  our  knowledge. 

There  is  not  seldom  to  be  found,  even  amongst  those 
who  aim  at  knowledge,  who  ^  with  an  unwearied  industry 
employ  their  whole  time  in  books,  who  scarcely  allow 
themselves  time  to  eat  or  sleep,  but  read,  and  read,  and 
read  on,  yet  make  no  great  advances  in  real  knowledge, 
though  there  be  no  defect  in  their  intellectual  faculties  to 
which  their  little  progress  can  be  imputed.  The  mistake 
here  is,  that  it  is  usually  supposed  that  by  reading,  the 
author's  knowledge  is  transfused  into  the  reader's  under- 
standing ;  and  so  it  is,  but  not  by  bare  reading,  but  by 
reading  and  understanding  what  he  writ.  Whereby  I 
mean,  not  barely  comprehending  what  is  affirmed  or 
denied  in  each  proposition  (though  that  great  readers  do 
not  always  think  themselves  concerned  precisely  to  do), 
but  to  see  and  follow  the  train  of  his  reasonings,  observe 
the  strength  and  clearness  of  their  connexion,  and  examine 
upon  what  they  bottom.  Without  this  a  man  may  read 
the  discourses  of  a  very  rational  author,  writ  in  a  language 
and  in  propositions  that  he  very  well  understands,  and 
yet  acquire  not  one  jot  of  his  knowledge ;  wliich  consist- 
ing only  in  the  perceived,  certain,  or  probable  connexion 
of  the  ideas  made  use  of  in  his  reasonings,  the  reader's 
knowledge  is  no  farther  increased  than  he  perceives  that ; 
so  much  as  he  sees  of  this  connexion,  so  much  he  knows 
of  the  truth  or  probability  of  that  author's  opinions. 

All  that  he  relies  on  without  this  perception  he  takes 
upon  trust,  upon  the  author's  credit,  without  any  know- 
ledge of  it  at  all.  This  makes  me  not  at  all  wonder  to  see 
some  men  so  abound  in  citations  and  build  so  much  upon 
authorities,  it  being  the  sole  foundation  on  which  they 
bottom  most  of  their  own  tenets ;  so  that  in  effect  they 

^  That  is,  "  There  are  ...  to  be  found  .  .  .  [those]  who  with 
an  unwearied,"  etc.     Cf.  sunt  .  .  .  qui. 


24.  PAETIALITY  227 

have  but  a  second-hand  or  implicit^  knowledge,  i.e.,  are 
in  the  right  if  such  an  one  from  whom  they  borrowed  it 
were  in  the  right  in  that  opinion  wliich  they  took  from 
him  ;  which  indeed  is  no  knowledge  at  all.  Writers  of  this 
or  former  ages  may  be  good  witnesses  of  matters  of  fact 
which  they  deliver,  which  we  may  do  well  to  take  upon 
their  authority  ;  but  their  credit  can  go  no  farther  than 
this  ;  it  cannot  at  all  affect  the  truth  and  falsehood  of 
opinions  which  have  no  other  sort  of  trial  but  reason  and 
proof,  which  they  themselves  made  use  of  to  make  them- 
selves knowing  ;  and  so  must  others  too  that  will  partake 
in  their  knowledge.  Indeed  it  is  an  advantage  that  they 
have  been  at  the  pains  to  find  out  the  proofs  and  lay  them 
in  that  order  that  may  show  the  truth  or  probability  of 
their  conclusions  ;  and  for  this  we  owe  them  great  acknow- 
ledgments for  saving  us  the  pains  in  searching  out  those 
proofs  which  they  have  collected  for  us,  and  which  possibly 
after  all  our  pains  we  might  not  have  found,  nor  been 
able  to  have  set  them  in  so  good  a  hght  as  that  which  they 
left  them  us  in.  Upon  tliis  account  we  are  mightily 
beholden  to  judicious  writers  of  all  ages  for  those  dis- 
coveries and  discourses  they  have  left  behind  them  for 
our  instruction,  if  we  know  how  to  make  a  right  use  of 
them,  which  is  not  to  run  them  over  in  an  hasty  perusal, 
and  perhaps  lodge  their  opinions  or  some  remarkable 
passages  in  our  memories  ;  but  to  enter  into  their  reason- 
ings, examine  their  proofs,  and  then  judge  of  the  truth  or 
falsehood,  probability  or  improbability  of  what  they 
advance  ;  not  by  any  opinion  we  have  entertained  of  the 
author,  but  by  the  evidence  he  produces  and  the  convic- 
tion he  affords  us,  drawn  from  things  themselves.  Know- 
ing is  seeing,  and  if  it  be  so,  it  is  madness  to  persuade 
ourselves  that  we  do  so  by  another  man's  eyes,  let  him  use 
ever  so  many  words  to  tell  us  that  what  he  asserts  is  very 
visible.  Till  we  ourselves  see  it  with  our  own  eyes  and 
perceive  it  by  our  own  understandings,  we  are  as  much 
in  the  dark  and  as  void  of  knowledge  as  before,  let  us 
believe  any  learned  author  as  much  as  we  will.^ 

^  Cf.  sec.  15,  second  paragraph.  ^  g^e  Introduction,  p.  8. 


228  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

Euclid  and  Archimedes  are  allowed  to  be  knowing  and 
to  have  demonstrated  what  they  say ;  and  yet  whoever 
shall  read  over  their  writings  without  perceiving  the  con- 
nexion of  their  proofs,  and  seeing  what  they  show, 
though  he  may  understand  all  their  words,  yet  he  is  not 
the  more  knowing  :  he  may  beheve  indeed,  but  does  not 
know  what  they  say,  and  so  is  not  advanced  one  jot  in 
mathematical  knowledge  by  all  his  reading  of  those 
approved  mathematicians.^ 

25.  Haste.^ — The  eagerness  and  strong  bent  of  the  mind 
after  knowledge,  if  not  warily  regulated,  is  often  a  hin- 
drance to  it.  It  still  presses  into  farther  discoveries  and 
new  objects,  and  catches  at  the  variety  of  knowledge  ; 
and  therefore  often  stays  not  long  enough  on  what  is 
before  it  to  look  into  it  as  it  should,  for  haste  to  pursue 
what  is  yet  out  of  sight.  He  that  rides  post  through  a 
country  may  be  able  from  the  transient  view  to  tell  how 
in  general  the  parts  lie,  and  may  be  able  to  give  some  loose 
description  of  here  a  mountain  and  there  a  plain,  here  a 
morass  and  there  a  river,  woodland  in  one  part  and  savan- 
nahs in  another.  Such  superficial  ideas  and  observations 
as  these  he  may  collect  in  galloping  over  it ;  but  the  more 
useful  observations  of  the  soil,  plants,  animals,  and  in- 
habitants, with  their  several  sorts  and  properties,  must 
necessarily  escape  him  ;  and  it  is  seldom  men  ever  discover 
the  rich  mines  without  some  digging.  Nature  commonly 
lodges  her  treasure  and  jewels  in  rocky  ground.  If  the 
matter  be  knotty  and  the  sense  lies  deep,  the  mind  must 

^  ' '  The  great  Mr.  Locke  was  the  first  who  became  a  Newtonian 
philosopher  without  the  help  of  geometry ;  for  having  asked  Mr. 
Huygens  whether  all  the  mathematical  propositions  in  Sir  Isaac's 
Principia  were  true,  and  being  told  he  might  depend  upon  their 
certainty,  he  took  them  for  granted,  and  carefully  examined  the 
reasonings  and  corollaries  drawn  from  them,  became  master  of  aU 
the  Physics,  and  was  fully  convinced  of  the  great  discoveries  con- 
tained in  that  book :  thus  also  he  read  the  Optics  with  pleasure, 
acquainting  himself  with  everything  in  them  that  was  not  merely 
mathematical.  This  I  was  told  several  times  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
himself  "  (J.  T.  Desaguliers,  A  Course  of  Experimental  Philosophy 
(1734),  vol.  ].,  preface. 

2  See  sec.  16. 


25.  HASTE  229 

stop  and  buckle  to  it,  and  stick  upon  it  with  labour  and 
thought  and  close  contemplation,  and  not  leave  it  till  it 
has  mastered  the  dijfiiculty  and  got  possession  of  truth. 
But  here  care  must  be  taken  to  avoid  the  other  extreme  ; 
a  man  must  not  stick  at  every  useless  nicety,  and  expect 
mysteries  of  science  in  every  trivial  question  or  scruple 
that  he  may  raise.  He  that  will  stand  to  pick  up  and 
examine  every  pebble  that  comes  in  his  way,  is  as  un- 
likely to  return  enriched  and  loaden  with  jewels,  as  the 
other  that  travelled  full  speed.  Truths  are  not  the  better 
nor  the  worse  for  their  obviousness  or  difficulty,  but  their 
value  is  to  be  measured  by  their  usefulness  and  tendency. 
Insignificant  observations  should  not  take  up  any  of  our 
minutes,  and  those  that  enlarge  our  view  and  give  light 
towards  farther  and  useful  discoveries,  should  not  be 
neglected,  though  they  stop  our  course  and  spend  some 
of  our  time  in  a  fixed  attention. 

There  is  another  haste  that  does  often  and  will  mislead 
the  mind,  if  it  be  left  to  itself  and  its  own  conduct.  The 
understanding  is  naturally  forward,  not  only  to  learn  its 
knowledge  by  variety  (which  makes  it  skip  over  one  to 
get  speedily  to  another  part  of  knowledge),  but  also  eager  to 
enlarge  its  views  by  running  too  fast  into  general  observa- 
tions and  conclusions  ^vithout  a  due  examination  of  par- 
ticulars enough  whereon  to  found  those  general  axioms. 
This  seems  to  enlarge  their  stock,  but  it  is  of  fancies,  not 
realities  ;  such  theories,  built  upon  narrow  foundations, 
stand  but  weakly,  and  if  they  fall  not  of  themselves,  are 
at  least  very  hardly  to  be  supported  against  the  assaults 
of  opposition.  And  thus  men  being  too  hasty  to  erect 
to  themselves  general  notions  and  ill-grounded  theories, 
find  themselves  deceived  in  their  stock  of  knowledge  when 
they  come  to  examine  their  hastily  assumed  maxims 
themselves,  or  to  have  them  attacked  by  others.  General 
observations  drawn  from  particulars  are  the  jewels  of 
knowledge,  comprehending  great  store  in  a  little  room  ; 
but  they  are  therefore  to  be  made  with  the  greater  care 
and  caution,  lest  if  we  take  counterfeit  for  true  our  loss 
and  shame  be  the  greater,  when  our  stock  comes  to  a  severe 


230  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

scrutiny.^  One  or  two  particulars  may  suggest  hints  of 
inquiry,  and  they  do  well  to  take  those  hints  ;  but  if  they 
turn  them  into  conclusions,  and  make  them  presently 
general  rules,  they  are  forward  indeed,  but  it  is  only  to 
impose  on  themselves  by  propositions  assumed  for  truths 
without  sufficient  warrant.  To  make  such  observations 
is,  as  has  been  already  remarked,  to  make  the  head  a 
magazine  of  materials  which  can  hardly  be  called  know- 
ledge, or  at  least  it  is  but  Uke  a  collection  of  limiber  not 
reduced  to  use  or  order ;  and  he  that  makes  everything 
an  observation  has  the  same  useless  plenty  and  much 
more  falsehood  mixed  with  it.  The  extremes  on  both 
sides  are  to  be  avoided,  and  he  will  be  able  to  give  the 
best  account  of  his  studies  who  keeps  his  understanding 
in  the  right  mean^  between  them. 

26.  Anticipation. — Whether  it  be  a  love  of  that  which 
brings  the  first  light  and  information  to  their  minds,  and 
want  of  vigour  and  industry  to  inquire  ;  or  else  that  men 
content  themselves  with  any  appearance  of  knowledge, 
right  or  wrong,  which  when  they  have  once  got  they  will 
hold  fast ;  this  is  visible,  that  many  men  give  themselves 
up  to  the  first  anticipations  of  their  minds,  and  are  very 
tenacious  of  the  opinions  that  first  possess  them  ;  they 
are  as  often  fond  of  their  first  conceptions  as  of  their 
first-born,  and  will  by  no  means  recede  from  the  judgment 
they  have  once  made,  or  any  conjecture  or  conceit  which 
they  have  once  entertained.  This  is  a  fault  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  understanding,  since  this  firmness  or  rather 
stiffness  of  the  mind  is  not  from^  an  adherence  to  truth, 
but  a  submission  to  prejudice.  It  is  an  unreasonable 
homage  paid  to  prepossession,  whereby  we  show  a 
reverence  not  to  (what  we  pretend  to  seek)  truth,  but 
what  by  haphazard  we  chance  to  Hght  on,  be  it  what  it 
will.  This  is  visibly  a  preposterous  use  of  our  faculties, 
and  is  a  downright  prostituting  of  the  mind  to  resign  it 
thus  and  put  it  under  the  power  of  the  first  comer.  This 
can  never  be  allowed  or  ought  to  be  followed  as  a  right 

^  Verification  is  an  essential  procedure  in  the  inductive  method. 
2  Not  necessarily  the  mathematical  mean.  ^  I.e.,  owing  to. 


27.  RESIGNATION— 28.  PRACTICE  231 

way  to  knowledge,  till  the  understanding  (whose  business 
it  is  to  conform  itself  to  what  it  finds  in  the  objects  with- 
out) can  by  its  own  opinionatry^  change  that,  and  make 
the  unalterable  nature  of  things  comply  with  its  own 
hasty  determinations,  wliich  will  never  be.  Whatever  we 
fancy,  tilings  keep  their  course,  and  the  habitudes,  corre- 
spondence, and  relations  keep  the  same  to  one  another. 

27.  Resignation. — Contrary  to  these,  but  by  a  like 
dangerous  excess  on  the  other  side,  are  those  who  always 
resign  their  judgment  to  the  last  man  they  heard  or  read. 
Truth  never  sinks  into  these  men's  minds  nor  gives  any 
tincture  to  them,  but  chameleon-like,  they  take  the  colour 
of  what  is  laid  before  them,  and,  as  soon,  lose  and  resign 
it  to  the  next  that  happens  to  come  in  their  way.  The 
order  wherein  opinions  are  proposed  or  received  by  us  is 
no  rule  of  their  rectitude,  nor  ought  to  be  a  cause  of  their 
preference.  First  or  last  in  this  case  is  the  effect  of 
chance,  and  not  the  measure  of  truth  or  falsehood.  This 
every  one  must  confess,  and  therefore  should  in  the  pur- 
suit of  truth  keep  his  mind  free  from  the  influence  of  any 
such  accidents.  A  man  may  as  reasonably  draw  cuts^ 
for  his  tenets,  regulate  his  persuasion  by  the  cast  of  a 
die,  as  take  it  up  for  its  novelty,  or  retain  it  because  it 
had  his  first  assent  and  he  was  never  of  another  mind. 
Well-weighed  reasons  are  to  determine  the  judgment  ; 
those  the  mind  should  be  always  ready  to  hearken  and 
submit  to,  and  byjjtheir  testimony  and  suffrage^  entertain 
or  reject  any  tenet  indifferently,  whether  it  be  a  perfect 
stranger  or  an  old  acquaintance. 

28.  Practice. — Though  the  faculties  of  the  mind  are 
improved  by  exercise,  yet  they  must  not  be  put  to  a 
stress  beyond  their  strength.  "  Quid  valeant  humeri, 
quid  ferre  recusent,"^  must  be  made  the  measure  of  every 

^  See  sec.  16.  ^  Lots ;  "  toss  up." 

3  Suffragium,  decision  marked  by  casting  a  vote. 
*  "  What  the  shoulders  are  strong  enough  for,  and  what  they 
refuse  to  bear  "  (Horace,  Ars  Poetica,  39).  The  analogy  between 
muscular  and  mental  activity,  weak  as  it  is,  has  been  greatly  over- 
pressed.  Muscles  can  be  isolated  by  the  anatomist's  knife  ;  mental 
powers  arp  only  discriminated  by  logical  analysis,  that  is,  by  s}k 


232  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

one's  understanding  who  has  a  desir*.  not  only  to  per- 
form well,  but  to  keep  up  the  vigour  of  his  faculties  and 
not  to  balk  his  understanding  by  what  is  too  hard  for  it. 
The  mind  by  being  engaged  in  a  task  beyond  its  strength, 
like  the  body  strained  by  lifting  at  a  weight  too  heavy, 
has  often  its  force  broken,  and  thereby  gets  an  unaptness 
or  an  aversion  to  any  vigorous  attempt  ever  after.  A 
sinew  cracked  seldom  recovers  its  former  strength,  or  at 
least  the  tenderness  of  the  sprain  remains  a  good  while 
after,  and  the  memory  of  it  longer,  and  leaves  a  lasting 
caution  in  the  man  not  to  put  the  part  quickly  again  to 
any  robust  employment.  So  it  fares  in  the  mind  once 
jaded  by  an  attempt  above  its  power ;  it  either  is  dis- 
abled for  the  future,  or  else  checks  at  any  vigorous  under- 
taking ever  after,  at  least  is  very  hardly  brought  to  exert 
its  force  again  on  any  subject  that  requires  thought  and 
meditation.  The  understanding  should  be  brought  to 
the  difficult  and  knotty  parts  of  knowledge,  that  try  the 
strength  of  thought  and  a  full  bent  of  the  mind,  by  in- 
sensible degrees  ;  and  in  such  a  gradual  proceeding  nothing 
is  too  hard  for  it.  Nor  let  it  be  objected  that  such  a  slow 
progress  will  never  reach  the  extent  of  some  sciences. 
It  is  not  to  be  imagined  how  far  constancy  will  cany  a 
man  ;  however,  it  is  better  walking  slowly  in  a  rugged 
way  than  to  break  a  leg  and  be  a  cripple.  He  that  begins 
with  the  calf  may  carry  the  ox,  but  he  that  will  at  first 
go  to  take  up  an  ox  may  so  disable  himself  as  not  to  be 
able  to  lift  up  a  calf  after  that.  When  the  mind  by 
insensible  degrees  has  brought  itself  to  attention  and  close 
thinking,  it  will  be  able  to  cope  with  difficulties  and  master 
them  without  any  prejudice  to  itself,  and  then  it  may  go 
on  roundly.  Every  abstruse  problem,  every  intricate 
question,  will  not  baffle,  discourage,  or  break  it.  But 
though  putting  the  mind  unprepared  upon  an  unusual 

process  of  abstraction.  "  Faculties,"  not  being  real  entities  of  the 
kind  to  which  muscles  belong,  are  not  capable  of  such  very  special 
exercise  as  can  be  applied,  for  example,  to  the  biceps.  The  con- 
trary opinion  is  responsible  for  much  bad  pedagogy.  See  sees,  (first 
paragraph)  29,  31,  and  Some  Thoughts,  sec.  176. 


28.  PRACTICE— 29.  WORDS  233 

stress  that  may  discourage  or  damp  it  for  the  future 
ought  to  be  avoided,  yet  this  must  not  run  it  by  an  over- 
great  shyness  of  difficulties  into  a  lazy  sauntering  about 
ordinary  and  obvious  things  that  demand  no  thought  or 
application.  This  debases  and  enervates  the  understand- 
ing, makes  it  weak  and  unfit  for  labour.  This  is  a  sort  of 
hovering  about  the  surface  of  things  without  any  insight 
into  them  or  penetration  ;  and  when  the  mind  has  been 
once  habituated  to  this  lazy  recumbency  and  satisfaction 
on  the  obvious  surface  of  things,  it  is  in  danger  to  rest 
satisfied  there  and  go  no  deeper,  since  it  cannot  do  it 
without  pains  and  digging.  He  that  has  for  some  time 
accustomed  himself  to  take  up  with  what  easily  offers 
itself  at  first  view,  has  reason  to  fear  he  shall  never  recon- 
cile himself  to  the  fatigue  of  turning  and  tumbling  things 
in  his  mind  to  discover  their  more  retired  and  more 
valuable  secrets. 

It   is   not    strange   that    methods   of   learning    which  i 
scholars  have  been  accustomed  to  in  their  beginning  and  . 

entrance  upon  the  sciences  should  influence  them  all  '  >1 
their  lives,  and  be  settled  in  their  minds  by  an  over- 
ruling reverence  ;  especially  if  they  be  such  as  universal 
use  has  established.  Learners  must  at  first  be  believers, 
and  their  master's  rules  having  been  once  made  axioms 
to  them,  it  is  no  wonder  they  should  keep  that  dignity, 
and  by  the  authority  they  have  once  got,  mislead  those 
who  think  it  sufficient  to  excuse  them  if  they  go  out  of 
their  way  in  a  well-beaten  track. 

29.  Words. — I  have  copiously  enough  spoken  of  the 
abuse  of  words  in  another  place,^  and  therefore  shall 
upon  this  reflection,  that  the  sciences  are  full  of  them, 
warn  those  that  would  conduct  their  understandings  right 
not  to  take  any  term,  howsoever  authorized  by  the  lan- 
guage of  the  schools,  to  stand  for  anything  till  they  have 
an  idea  of  it.  A  word  may  be  of  frequent  use  and  great 
credit  with  several  authors,  and  be  by  them  made  use  of 
as  if  it  stood  for  some  real  being  ;  but  yet,  if  he  that  reads 
cannot  frame  any  distinct  idea  of  that  being,  it  is  cer- 

^  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding,  in.,  especially  chapa.  x.,  xi. 


234  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

tainly  to  him  a  mere  empty  sound  without  a  meaning, 
and  he  learns  no  more  by  all  that  is  said  of  it  or  attributed 
to  it  than  if  it  were  affirmed  only  of  that  bare  empty 
sound.  They  who  would  advance  in  knowledge,  and  not 
deceive  and  swell  themselves  with  a  little  articulated  air, 
should  lay  down  this  as  a  fundamental  rule,  not  to  take 
words  for  things,  nor  suppose  that  names  in  books  signify 
real  entities  in  nature,  till  they  can  frame  clear  and  dis- 
tinct ideas  of  those  entities.  It  will  not  perhaps  be 
allowed,  if  I  should  set  down  "  substantial  forms  "  and 
"  intentional  species,"  as  such  that  may  justly  be  sus- 
pected to  be  of  this  kind  of  insignificant^  terms.  But  this 
I  am  sure,  to  one  that  can  form  no  determined  ideas  of 
what  they  stand  for,  they  signify  nothing  at  all ;  and  all 
that  he  thinks  he  knows  about  them  is  to  him  so  much 
knowledge  about  nothing,  and  amounts  at  most  but  to  be 
a  learned  ignorance.  It  is  not  without  all  reason  sup- 
posed that  there  are  many  such  empty  terms  to  be  found 
in  some  learned  writers,  to  which  they  had  recourse  to 
etch  2  out  their  systems,  where  their  understandings  could 
not  furnish  them  with  conceptions  from  things.  But  yet 
I  believe  the  supposing  of  some  realities  in  nature  answer- 
ing those  and  the  like  words,  have  much  perplexed  some 
and  quite  misled  others  in  the  study  of  nature.  That 
which  in  any  discourse  signifies,  "  I  know  not  what," 
should  be  considered  "  I  know  not  when."  Where  men 
have  any  conceptions,  they  can,  if  they  are  never  so 
abstruse  or  abstracted,  explain  them  and  the  terms  they 
use  for  them.^  For  our  conceptions  being  nothing  but 
ideas,  which  are  all  made  up  of  simple  ones,  if  they  can- 
not give  us  the  ideas  their  words  stand  for  it  is  plain  they 
have  none.  To  what  purpose  can  it  be  to  hunt  after 
his  conceptions  who  has  none,  or  none  distinct  ?  He 
that  knew  not  what  he  himself  meant  by  a  learned  term, 
cannot  make  us  know  anything  by  his  use  of  it,  let  us 

^  I.e.,  meaningless.      The  phrases  belong  to  the  Peripatetic  as 
opposed  to  the  Corpuscular  philosophy.     See  Thoughts,  sec.  193. 
2  I.e.,  to  eke. 
^  See  sec.  31,  "  He  that  has  settled  in  his  mind,"  etc.,  and  sec.  32, 


29.  WORDS— 30.  WANDERING  235 

beat  our  heads  about  it  never  so  long.  Whether  we  are 
able  to  comprehend  all  the  operations  of  nature  and  the 
manners  of  them,  it  matters  not  to  inquire  ;  but  this  is 
certain,  that  we  can  comprehend  no  more  of  them  than 
we  can  distinctly  conceive,  and  therefore  to  obtrude  terms 
where  we  have  no  distinct  conceptions,  as  if  they  did 
contain,  or  rather  conceal  something,  is  but  an  artifice  of 
learned  vanity  to  cover  a  defect  in  an  hypothesis  or  our 
understandings.  Words  are  not  made  to  conceal,  but  to 
declare  and  show  something ;  where  they  are  by  those 
who  pretend  to  instruct  otherwise  used,  they  conceal 
indeed  something ;  but  that  that  they  conceal  is  nothing 
but  the  ignorance,  error,  or  sophistry  of  the  talker,  for 
there  is  in  truth  nothing  else  under  them.  ■ 

30.  Wandering. — That  there  is  a  constant  succession 
and  flux  of  ideas  in  our  minds  I  have  observed  in  the 
former  part  of  this  essay,  and  every  one  may  take  notice 
of  it  in  himself.  This,  I  suppose,  may  deserve  some  part 
of  our  care  in  the  conduct  of  our  understandings  ;  and 
I  think  it  may  be  of  great  advantage  if  we  can,  by  use, 
get  that  power  over  our  minds,  as  to  be  able  to  direct  that 
train  of  ideas,  that  so,  since  there  will  new  ones  perpetually 
come  into  our  thoughts  by  a  constant  succession,  we  may 
be  able  by  choice  so  to  direct  them,  that  none  may  come 
in  view  but  such  as  are  pertinent  to  our  present  inquiry, 
and  in  such  order  as  may  be  most  useful  to  the  discovery 
we  are  upon  ;  or,  at  least,  if  some  foreign  and  unsought 
ideas  will  offer  themselves,  that  yet  we  might  be  able  to 
reject  them  and  keep  them  from  taking  off  our  minds 
from  its  present  pursuit,  and  hinder  them  from  running 
away  with  our  thoughts  quite  from  the  subject  in  hand. 
This  is  not,  I  suspect,  so  easy  to  be  done  as  perhaps  may 
be  imagined  ;  and  yet,  for  aught  I  know,  this  may  be, 
if  not  the  chief,  yet  one  of  the  great  differences  that  carry 
some  men  in  their  reasoning  so  far  beyond  others,  where 
they  seem  to  be  naturally  of  equal  parts.^     A  proper  and 

^  Experiment  seems  to  show  that  intellectual  differences  between 
man  and  man  greatly  depend  upon  differences  in  power  of  attention, 
of  concentration  of  mind. 


236  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

effectual  remedy  for  this  wandering  of  thoughts  I  would 
be  glad  to  find.  He  that  shall  propose  such  an  one  would 
do  great  service  to  the  studious  and  contemplative  part 
of  mankind,  and  perhaps  help  unthinking  men  to  become 
thinking.  I  must  acknowledge  that  hitherto  I  have  dis- 
covered no  other  way  to  keep  our  thoughts  close  to  their 
business,  but  the  endeavouring  as  much  as  we  can,  and 
by  frequent  attention  and  application,  getting  the  habit 
of  attention  and  application.  He  that  will  observe 
children  will  find  that  even  when  they  endeavour  their 
utmost,  they  cannot  keep  their  minds  from  straggling. 
The  way  to  cure  it,  I  am  satisfied,  is  not  angry  chiding 
or  beating,  for  that  presently  fills  their  heads  with  all 
the  ideas  that  fear,  dread,  or  confusion  can  offer  to  them. 
To  bring  back  gently  their  wandering  thoughts,  by  lead- 
ing them  into  the  path  and  going  before  them  in  the  train 
they  should  pursue,  without  any  rebuke,  or  so  much  as 
taking  notice  (where  it  can  be  avoided)  of  their  roving, 
I  suppose,  would  sooner  reconcile  and  inure  them  to 
attention  than  all  these  rougher  methods,  which  more 
distract  their  thought,  and  hindering  the  application  they 
would  promote,  introduce  a  contrary  habit.^ 

31.  Distinction. — Distinction  and  division  are  (if  I 
mistake  not  the  import  of  the  words)  very  different  things  ; 
the  one^  being  the  perception  of  a  difference  that  nature 
has  placed  in  things  ;  the  other,^  our  making  a  division 
where  there  is  yet  none  ;  at  least  if  it  may  be  permitted 
to  consider  them  in  this  sense,  I  think  I  may  say  of  them, 
that  one 2  of  them  is  the  most  necessary  and  conducive 
to  true  knowledge  that  can  be  ;  the  other,^  when  too  much 
made  use  of,  serves  only  to  puzzle  and  confound  the  under- 
standing. To  observe  every  the  least  difference  that  is 
in  things  argues  a  quick  and  clear  sight,  and  this  keeps 
the  understanding  steady  and  right  in  its  way  to  know- 
ledge. But  though  it  be  useful  to  discern  every  variety 
that  is  to  be  found  in  nature,  yet  it  is  not  convenient  to 
consider  every  difference  that  is  in  things,  and  divide 

^  See  Thoughts,  sec.  167.  ^  Sc.  division 

^  Sc.  distinction.     See  Thoughts,  close  of  sec.  195. 


31.  DISTINCTION  237 

them  into  distinct  classes  under  every  such  difference.^ 
This  will  run  us,  if  followed,  into  particulars  (for  every 
individual  has  something  that  differences  it  from  another), 
and  we  shall  be  able  to  establish  no  general  truths,  or  else 
at  least  shall  be  apt  to  perplex  the  mind  about  them. 
The  collection  of  several  things  into  several  classes  gives 
the  mind  more  general  and  larger  views,  but  we  must 
take  care  to  unite  them  only  in  that,^  and  so  far  as  they 
do  agree,  for  so  far  they  may  be  united  under  the  con- 
sideration ;  for  entity  ^  itself,  that  comprehends  all  things, 
as  general  as  it  is,  may  afford  us  clear  and  rational  con- 
ceptions. If  we  would  weigh  and  keep  in  our  minds  what 
it  is  we  are  considering,  that  would  best  instruct  us  when 
we  should  or  should  not  branch  into  farther  distinctions, 
which  are  to  be  taken  only  from  a  due  contemplation  of 
things  ;  to  which  there  is  nothing  more  opposite  than  the 
art  of  verbal  distinctions  made  at  pleasure  in  learned 
and  arbitrarily  invented  terms,  to  be  applied  at  a  venture, 
without  comprehending  or  conveying  any  distinct  notions ; 
and  so  altogether  fitted  to  artificial  talk  or  empty  noise 
in  dispute,  without  any  clearing  of  difficulties  or  advance 
in  knowledge.  Whatsoever  subject  we  examine  and 
would  get  knowledge  in,  we  should,  I  think,  make  as 
general  and  as  large  as  it  will  bear ;  nor  can  there  be  any 
danger  of  tliis,  if  the  idea  of  it  be  settled  and  determined  : 
for  if  that  be  so,  we  shall  easily  distinguish  it  from  any 
other  idea,  though  comprehended  under  the  same  name. 
For  it  is  to  fence  against  the  entanglements  of  equivocal 
words,  and  the  great  art  of  sophistry  which  lies  in  them, 
that  distinctions  have  been  multiplied  and  their  use 
thought  so  necessary.  But  had  every  distinct  abstract  idea 
a  distinct  known  name,  there  would  be  httle  need  of  these 
multiplied  scholastic  distinctions,  though  there  would  be 
nevertheless  as  much  need  still  of  the  mind's  observing 
the  differences  that  are  in  things,  and  discriminating  them 
thereby  one  from  another.  It  is  not  therefore  the  right 
way  to  knowledge  to  hunt  after  and  fill  the  head  with 

*  A  truth  commonly  defied  by  writers  on  English  grammar. 
2  Suhaud.,  "  they  agree."  ^  Being. 


238  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

abundance  of  artificial  and  scholastic  distinctions,  where- 
with learned  men's  writings  are  often  filled  :  we  sometimes 
find  what  they  treat  of  so  divided  and  subdivided  that 
the  mind  of  the  most  attentive  reader  loses  the  sight  of  it, 
as  it  is  more  than  probable  the  writer  himself  did  ;  for 
in  tilings  crumbled  into  dust  it  is  in  vain  to  affect  or 
pretend  order,  or  expect  clearness.  To  avoid  confusion 
by  too  few  or  too  many  divisions,  is  a  great  skill  in  thinking 
as  well  as  writing,  which  is  but  the  copying  our  thoughts  ; 
but  what  are  the  boundaries  of  the  mean  between  the 
two  vicious  excesses  on  both  hands,  I  think  is  hard  to 
set  down  in  words  :  clear  and  distinct  ideas ^  is  [sic]  all 
that  I  yet  know  able  to  regulate  it.  But  as  to  verbal 
distinctions  received  and  applied  to  common  terms,  i.e., 
equivocal  words,^  they  are  more  properly,  I  think,  the 
business  of  criticisms  and  dictionaries  than  of  real  know- 
ledge and  philosophy,  since  they  for  the  most  part  explain 
the  meaning  of  words,  and  give  us  their  several  significa- 
tions. The  dexterous  management  of  terms,  and  being 
able  to  fend^  and  prove  with  them,  I  know  has  and  does 
pass  in  the  world  for  a  great  part  of  learning  ;  but  it  is 
learning  distinct  from  knowledge,  for  knowledge  consists 
only  in  perceiving  the  habitudes  and  relations  of  ideas 
one  to  another,  wliich  is  done  without  words  ;  the  inter- 
vention of  a  sound  helps  nothing  to  it.  And  hence  we  see 
that  there  is  least  use  of  distinctions  where  there  is  most 
knowledge,  I  mean  in  mathematics,  where  men  have  deter- 
mined ideas  without  ■*  known  names  to  them,  and  so  there 
being  no  room  for  equivocations,  there  is  no  need  of 
distinctions.  In  arguing,  the  opponent  uses  as  compre- 
hensive and  equivocal  terms  as  he  can,  to  involve  his 
adversary  in  the  doubtfulness  of  his  expressions  :  this  is 

^  Essay,  ii.,  chap.  xxix. ;  Thoughts,  sec.  195,  note  on  concluding 
words  of  section. 

2  The  fact  that  terms  are  common,  or  general,  renders  them 
equivocal  on  occasion. 

3  Ward  off  (an  opponent).     The  disputations  so  familiar  in  the 
universities  of  his  day  were  Locke's  pet  aversion.     See  sec.  43. 

*  So  the  text  reads,  but  the  fact  seems  to  require  "  with."     See 
next  page. 


31.  DISTINCTION  239 

expected,  and  therefore  the  answerer  on  his  side  makes 
it  his  play  to  distinguish  as  much  as  he  can,  and  thinks 
he  can  never  do  it  too  much  ;  nor  can  he  indeed  in  that 
way  wherein  victory  may  be  had  without  truth  and  with- 
out knowledge.  This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  art  of  dis- 
puting. Use  your  words  as  captiously  as  you  can  in 
3'^our  arguing  on  one  side,  and  apply  distinctions  as  much 
as  you  can  on  the  other  side  to  every  term,  to  nonplus 
your  opponent ;  so  that  in  this  sort  of  scholarship,  there 
being  no  bounds  set  to  distinguishing,  some  men  have 
thought  all  acuteness  to  have  lain  in  it,  and  therefore  in 
all  they  have  read  or  thought  on,  their  great  business  has 
been  to  amuse  themselves  with  distinctions,  and  multiply 
to  themselves  divisions  ;  at  least,  more  than  the  nature  of 
the  thing  required.  There  seems  to  me,  as  I  said,  to  be 
no  other  rule  for  this  but  a  due  and  right  consideration 
of  things  as  they  are  in  themselves.  He  that  has  settled 
in  his  mind  determined  ideas,  with  names  affixed  to  them, 
will  be  able  both  to  discern  their  differences  one  from 
another,  which  is  really  distinguishing ;  and  where  the 
penury  of  words  affords  not  terms  answering  every  dis- 
tinct idea,  will  be  able  to  apply  proper  distinguishing 
terms  to  the  comprehensive  and  equivocal  names  he  is 
forced  to  make  use  of.^  This  is  all  the  need  I  know  of 
distinguishing  terms,  and  in  such  verbal  distinctions  each 
term  of  the  distinction,  joined  to  that  whose  signification 
it  distinguishes,  is  but  a  distinct  name  for  a  distinct  idea. 
Where  they  are  so,  and  men  have  clear  and  distinct  con- 
ceptions that  answer  their  verbal  distinctions,  they  are 
right,  and  are  pertinent  as  far  as  they  serve  to  clear  any- 
thing in  the  subject  under  consideration.  And  this  is 
that  which  seems  to  me  the  proper  and  only  measure  of 
distinctions  and  divisions  ;  which  he  that  will  conduct  his 
understanding  right  must  not  look  for  in  the  acuteness  of 
invention  nor  the  authority  of  writers,  but  will  find  only  in 
the  consideration  of  things  themselves,  whether  he  is  led 
into  it  by  his  own  meditations  or  the  information  of  books. 
An  aptness  to  jumble  things  together  wherein  can  be 
1  See  sec.  29. 


240  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

found  any  likeness,  is  a  fault  in  the  understanding  on 
the  other  side  which  will  not  fail  to  mislead  it,  and  by  thus 
lumping  of  things,  hinder  the  mind  from  distinct  and 
accurate  conceptions  of  them. 

32.  Similes. — To  which  let  me  hero  add  another  near 
of  kin  to  this,  at  least  in  name,  and  that  is  letting  the 
mind,  upon  the  suggestion  of  any  new  notion,  run  im- 
mediately after  similes  to  make  it  the  clearer  to  itself ; 
which,  though  it  may  be  a  good  way  and  useful  in  the  ex- 
plaining our  thoughts  to  others,  yet  it  is  by  no  means  a 
right  method  to  settle  true  notions  of  anything  in  our- 
selves, because  similes  always  fail  in  some  part,  and  come 
short  of  that  exactness  which  our  conceptions  should 
have  to  things  if  we  would  think  aright.^  This  indeed 
makes  men  plausible  talkers,  for  those  are  always  most 
acceptable  in  discourse  who  have  the  way  to  let  their 
thoughts  into  other  men's  minds  with  the  greatest  ease 
and  facility  ;  whether  these  thoughts  are  well  formed  and 
correspond  with  things  matters  not ;  few  men  care  to 
be  instructed  but  at  an  easy  rate.  They  who  in  their 
discourse  strike  the  fancy,  and  take  the  hearers'  concep- 
tions along  with  them  as  fast  as  their  words  flow,  are  the 
applauded  talkers,  and  go  for  the  only  men  of  clear 
thoughts.  Nothing  contributes  so  much  to  this  as  similes, 
whereby  men  think  they  themselves  understand  better, 
because  they  are  the  better  understood.  But  it  is  one 
thing  to  think  right,  and  another  thing  to  know  the  right 
way  to  lay  our  thoughts  before  others  mth  advantage 
and  clearness,  be  they  right  or  wrong.  Well-chosen 
similes,  metaphors,  and  allegories,  with  method  and  order, 
do  this  the  best  of  anything,  because  being  taken  from 
objects  already  known  and  familiar  to  the  understanding, 
they  are  conceived  as  fast  as  spoken,  and  the  corre- 
spondence being  concluded,  the  thing  they  are  brought 
to  explain  and  elucidate  is  thought  to  be  understood 
too.  Thus  fancy  passes  for  knowledge,  and  what  is 
prettily  said  is  mistaken  for  solid.     I  say  not  this  to  decry 

^  Locke's  own  similes  of  "  blank   paper  "  and  "  wax  "  might  be 
retorted  upon  him.     See  sec.  2  note. 


32.  SIMILES— 33.  ASSENT  241 

metaphor,  or  with  design  to  take  away  that  ornament  of 
speech  ;  my  business  here  is  not  with  rhetoricians  and 
orators/  but  with  philosophers  and  lovers  of  truth,  to 
whom  I  would  beg  leave  to  give  tliis  one  rule  whereby 
to  try  whether  in  the  application  of  their  thoughts  to 
anything  for  the  improvement  of  their  knowledge,  they 
do  in  truth  comprehend  the  matter  before  them  really 
such  as  it  is  in  itself.  The  way  to  discover  this  is  to 
observe  whether,  in  the  laying  it  before  themselves  or 
others,  they  make  use  only  of  borrowed  representations 
and  ideas  foreign  to  the  things  which  are  applied  to  it 
by  way  of  accommodation,  as  bearing  some  proportion 
or  imagined  likeness  to  the  subject  under  consideration. 
Figured  and  metaphorical  expressions  do  well  to  illus- 
trate more  abstruse  and  unfamiliar  ideas  which  the  mind 
is  not  yet  thoroughly  accustomed  to,  but  then  they  must 
be  made  use  of  to  illustrate  ideas  that  we  already  have, 
not  to  paint  to  us  those  which  we  yet  have  not.  Such 
borrowed  and  allusive  ideas  may  follow  real  and  solid 
truth,  to  set  it  off  when  found,  but  must  by  no  means 
be  set  in  its  place  and  taken  for  it.  If  all  our  search  has 
yet  reached  no  farther  than  simile  and  metaphor,  we 
may  assure  ourselves  we  rather  fancy  than  know,  and 
have  not  yet  penetrated  into  the  inside  and  reality  of  the 
thing,  be  it  what  it  will,  but  content  ourselves  with 
what  our  imaginations,  not  things  themselves,  furnish 
us  with. 

33.  Assent. — In  the  whole  conduct  of  the  understand- 
ing, there  is  nothing  of  more  moment  than  to  know  when 
and  where,  and  how  far  to  give  assent,  and  possibly 
there  is  nothing  harder.  It  is  very  easily  said,  and  nobody 
questions  it,  that  giving  and  withholding  our  assent  and 
the  degrees  of  it  should  be  regulated  by  the  evidence 
which  things  carry  with  them  ;  and  yet  we  see  men  are 
not  the  better  for  this  rule  ;  some  firmly  embrace  doc- 
trines upon  slight  grounds,  some  upon  no  grounds,  and 
some  contrary  to  appearance  :  some  admit  of  certainty, 

^  But  men  who  "  have  business  "  with  rhetoricians  should  bear 
Locke's  warning  in  mind. 

16 


242  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

and  are  not  to  be  moved  in  what  they  hold  ;  others  waver 
in  everything,  and  there  want  not  those  that  reject  all 
as  uncertain.  What  then  shall  a  novice,  an  inquirer,  a 
stranger  do  in  the  case  ?  I  answer,  use  his  eyes.  There 
is  a  correspondence  in  things,  and  agreement  and  dis- 
agreement in  ideas,  discernible  in  very  different  degrees, 
and  there  are  eyes  in  men  to  see  them  if  they  please  ; 
only  their  eyes  may  be  dimmed  or  dazzled,  and  the  dis- 
cerning sight  in  them  impaired  or  lost.  Interest  and 
passion  dazzle  ;  the  custom  of  arguing  on  any  side,  even 
against  our  persuasions,  dims  the  understanding,  and 
makes  it  by  degrees  lose  the  faculty  of  discerning  clearly 
between  truth  and  falsehood,  and  so  of  adhering  to  the 
right  side.  It  is  not  safe  to  play  with  error  and  dress 
it  up  to  ourselves  or  others  in  the  shape  of  truth.  The 
mind  by  degrees  loses  its  natural  rehsh  of  real  solid  truth, 
is  reconciled  insensibly  to  anything  that  can  be  dressed 
up  into  any  feint  ^  appearance  of  it ;  and  if  the  fancy  be 
allowed  the  place  of  judgment  at  first  in  sport,  it  after- 
wards comes  by  use  to  usurp  it,  and  what  is  recommended 
by  this  flatterer  (that  studies  but  to  please)  is  received 
for  good.  There  are  so  many  ways  of  fallacy,  such  arts  of 
giving  colours,  appearances,  and  resemblances  by  this 
court-dresser,  the  fancy,  that  he  who  is  not  wary  to  admit 
nothing  but  truth  itself,  very  careful  not  to  make  his 
mind  subservient  to  anything  else,  cannot  but  be  caught. 
He  that  has  a  mind  to  believe,  has  half  assented  already  ; 
and  he  that  by  often  arguing  against  his  own  sense  im- 
poses falsehood  on  others,  is  not  far  from  believing  him- 
self. This  takes  away  the  great  distance  there  is  be- 
twixt truth  and  falsehood  ;  it  brings  them  almost  together, 
and  makes  it  no  great  odds,  in  things  that  approach  so 
near,  which  you  take  ;  and  when  things  are  brought  to 
that  pass,  passion,  or  interest,  &c.,  easily,  and  without 
being  perceived,  determine  which  shall  be  the  right. 

34.  Indifferency.^ — I  have  said  above  that  we  should 
keep  a  perfect  indifferency  for  all  opinions,  not  wish  any 
of  them  true,  or  try  to  make  them  appear  so,  but  being 
^  Feigned.  ^  Impartiality.     See  sec.  11. 


34.  INDIFFERENCY  243 

indifferent,  receive  and  embrace  them  according  as 
evidence,  and  that  alone,  gives  the  attestation  of  truth. 
They  that  do  thus,  i.e.,  keep  their  minds  indifferent  to 
opinions,  to  be  determined  only  by  evidence,  will  always 
find  the  understanding  has  perception  enough  to  distin- 
guish between  evidence  and  no  evidence,  betwixt  plain 
and  doubtful ;  and  if  they  neither  give  nor  refuse  their 
assent  but  by  that  measure,  they  will  be  safe  in  the 
opinions  they  have.  Which  being  perhaps  but  few,  this 
caution  will  have  also  this  good  in  it,  that  it  will  put  them 
upon  considering,  and  teach  them  the  necessity  of 
examining  more  than  they  do  ;  without  which  the  mind 
is  but  a  receptacle  of  inconsistencies,  not  the  storehouse 
of  truths.  They  that  do  not  keep  up  this  indifferency 
in  themselves  for  all  but  truth,  not  supposed,  but  evi- 
denced in  themselves,  put  coloured  spectacles  before  their 
eyes,  and  look  on  things  through  false  glasses,  and  then 
think  themselves  excused  in  following  the  false  appear- 
ances which  they  themselves  put  upon  them.  I  do  not 
expect  that  by  this  way  the  assent  should  in  every  one  be 
proportioned  to  the  grounds  and  clearness  wherewith 
every  truth  is  capable  to  be  made  out,  or  that  men 
should  be  perfectly  kept  from  error ;  that  is  more  than 
human  nature  can  by  any  means  be  advanced  to  ;  I  aim 
at  no  such  unattainable  privilege  :  I  am  only  speaking 
of  what  they  should  do,  who  would  deal  fairly  with  their 
own  minds,  and  make  a  right  use  of  their  faculties  in  the 
pursuit  of  truth  ;  we  fail  them  ^  a  great  deal  more  than 
they  fail  us.  It  is  mismanagement  more  than  want  of 
abilities  that  men  have  reason  to  complain  of,  and  which 
they  actually  do  complain  of  in  those  that  differ  from 
them.  He  that  by  indifferency  for  all  but  truth,  suffers 
not  his  assent  to  go  faster  than  his  evidence,  nor  beyond 
it,  will  learn  to  examine,  and  examine  fairly  instead  of 
presuming,  and  nobody  will  be  at  a  loss  or  in  danger  for 
want  of  embracing  those  truths  which  are  necessary  in  his 
station  and  circumstances.  In  any  other  way  but  this 
all  the  world  are  born  to  orthodoxy  ;  they  imbibe  at  first 
*  I.e.,  our  faculties. 


244  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

the  allowed  opinions  of  their  country  and  party,  and  so 
never  questioning  their  truth,  not  one  of  an  hundred  ever 
examines.  They  are  applauded  for  presuming  they  are 
in  the  right.  He  that  considers,  is  a  foe  to  orthodoxy, 
because  possibly  he  may  deviate  from  some  of  the  received 
doctrines  there.  And  thus  men,  without  any  industry 
or  acquisition  of  their  own,  inherit  local  truths  (for  it  is 
not  the  same  everywhere)  and  are  inured  to  assent  with- 
out evidence.  This  influences  farther  than  is  thought, 
for  what  one  of  an  hundred  of  the  zealous  bigots  in  all 
parties  ever  examined  the  tenets  he  is  so  stiff  in,  or  ever 
thought  it  his  business  or  duty  so  to  do  ?  It  is  suspected 
of  lukewarmness  to  suppose  it  necessary,  and  a  tendency 
to  apostacy  to  go  about  it.  And  if  a  man  can  bring  his 
mind  once  to  be  positive  and  fierce  for  positions  whose 
evidence  he  has  never  once  examined,  and  that  in  matters 
of  greatest  concernment  to  him,  what  shall  keep  him  from 
this  short  and  easy  way  of  being  in  the  right  in  cases  of 
less  moment  ?  Thus  we  are  taught  to  clothe  our  minds 
as  we  do  our  bodies,  after  the  fashion  in  vogue,  and  it  is 
accounted  fantasticalness,  or  something  worse,  not  to  do 
so.  This  custom  (which  who  dares  oppose  ?)  makes  the 
short-sighted,  bigots,  and  the  warier,  sceptics,  as  far  as 
it  prevails  :  and  those  that  break  from  it  are  in  danger  of 
heresy  :  for  taking  the  whole  world,  how  much  of  it  doth 
truth  and  orthodoxy  possess  together  ?  Though  it  is  by 
the  last  alone  (which  has  the  good  luck  to  be  everywhere) 
that  error  and  heresy  are  judged  of :  for  argument  and 
evidence  signify  nothing  in  the  case,  and  excuse  no  where, 
but  are  sure  to  be  borne  down  in  all  societies  by  the 
infallible  orthodoxy  of  the  place.  Whether  this  be  the 
way  to  truth  and  right  assent,  let  the  opinions  that  take 
place  and  prescribe  in  the  several  habitable  parts  of  the 
earth  declare.  I  never  saw  any  reason  yet  why  truth 
might  not  be  trusted  on  its  own  evidence :  I  am  sure  if 
that  be  not  able  to  support  it  there  is  no  fence  against 
error  ;  and  then  truth  and  falsehood  are  but  names  that 
stand  for  the  same  things.  Evidence  therefore  is  that  by 
which  alone  every  man  is  (and  should  be)  taught  to 


34,  35.  INDIFFERENCY  245 

regulate  his  assent,  who  is  then,  and  then  only,  in  the 
right  way  when  he  follows  it. 

Men  deficient  in  knowledge  are  usually  in  one  of  these 
three  states  :  either  wholly  ignorant,  or  as  doubting  of 
some  proposition  they  have  either  embraced  formerly, 
or  are  at  present  inclined  to  ;  or  lastly,  they  do 
with  assurance  hold  and  profess  without  ever  having 
examined  and  being  convinced  by  well-grounded  argu- 
ments. 

The  first  of  these  are  in  the  best  state  of  the  three,  by 
having  their  minds  yet  in  their  perfect  freedom  and 
indifferency,  the  likelier  to  pursue  the  truth  better,  having 
no  bias  yet  clapped  on  to  mislead  them. 

35.  For  ignorance  with  an  indifferency  for  truth  is 
nearer  to  it  than  opinion  with  ungrounded  incHnation, 
which  is  the  great  source  of  error ;  and  they  are  more  in 
danger  to  go  out  of  the  way  who  are  marching  under  the 
conduct  of  a  guide  ^  that  it  is  a  hundred  to  one  will  mislead 
them,  than  he  that  has  not  yet  taken  a  step,  and  is  likeher 
to  be  prevailed  on  to  inquire  after  the  right  way.  The 
last  of  the  three  sorts  are  in  the  worst  condition  of  all ; 
for  if  a  man  can  be  persuaded  and  fully  assured  of  any- 
thing for  a  truth,  without  having  examined,  what  is  there 
that  he  may  not  embrace  for  truth  ?  and  if  he  has  given 
himself  up  to  believe  a  lie,  what  means  is  there  left  to 
recover  one  who  can  be  assured  without  examining  ? 
To  the  other  two,  this  I  crave  leave  to  say,  that  as  he 
that  is  ignorant  is  in  the  best  state  of  the  two,  so  he 
should  pursue  truth  in  a  method  suitable  to  that  state  ; 
i.e.,  by  inquiring  directly  into  the  nature  of  the  thing 
itself,  without  minding  the  opinions  of  others,  or  troubling 
himself  with  their  questions  or  disputes  about  it ;  but  to 
see  what  he  himself  can,  sincerely  searching  after  truth, 
find  out.  He  that  proceeds  upon  other  principles  in  his 
inquiry  into  any  sciences,  though  he  be  resolved  to  examine 
them  and  judge  of  them  freely,  does  yet  at  least  put  himself 
on  that  side,  and  post  himself  in  a  party  which  he  will  not 
quit  till  he  be  beaten  out :  by  which  the  mind  is  insensibly 
*  Viz.,  inclination. 


246  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

engaged  to  make  what  defence  ^  it  can,  and  so  is  unawares 
biassed.  I  do  not  say  but  a  man  should  embrace  some 
opinion  when  he  has  examined,  else  he  examines  to  no 
purpose ;  but  the  surest  and  safest  way  is  to  have  no 
opinion  at  all  till  he  has  examined,  and  that  without  any 
the  least  regard  to  the  opinions  or  systems  of  other  men 
about  it.  For  example,  were  it  my  business  to  under- 
stand physic,  would  not  the  safe  and  readier  way  bo  to 
consult  nature  herself,  and  inform  myself  in  the  history 
of  diseases  and  their  cures,  than  espousing  the  principles 
of  the  dogmatists,  methodists,  or  chemists,  to  engage  in 
all  the  disputes  concerning  either  of  those  systems,  and 
suppose  it  to  be  true,  till  I  have  tried  what  they  can  say 
to  beat  me  out  of  it  ?  Or,  supposing  that  Hippocrates,^ 
or  any  other  book,  infallibly  contains  the  whole  art  of 
physic  ;  would  not  the  direct  way  be  to  study,  read,  and 
consider  that  book,  weigh  and  compare  the  parts  of  it  to 
find  the  truth,  rather  than  espouse  the  doctrines  of  any 
party  ?  who,  though  they  acknowledge  his  authority,  have 
already  interpreted  and  wire-drawn  all  his  text  to  their 
own  sense ;  the  tincture  whereof  when  I  have  imbibed,  I 
am  more  in  danger  to  misunderstand  his  true  meaning, 
than  if  I  had  come  to  him  with  a  mind  unprepossessed  by 
doctors  and  commentators  of  my  sect ;  whose  reasonings, 
interpretation,  and  language  which  I  have  been  used  to, 
will  of  course  make  all  chime  that  way,  and  make  another, 
and  perhaps  the  genuine,  meaning  of  the  author  seem 
harsh,  strained,  and  uncouth  to  me.  For  words  having 
naturally  none  of  their  own,  carry  that  signification  to 
the  hearer  that  he  is  used  to  put  upon  them,  whatever  be 
the  sense  of  him  that  uses  them.  This,  I  think,  is  visibly 
so  ;  and  if  it  be,  he  that  begins  to  have  any  doubt  of  any 
of  his  tenets,  which  he  received  without  examination, 
ought  as  much  as  he  can,  to  put  himself  wholly  into-  this 
state  of  ignorance  in  reference  to  that  question ;  and 
throwing  wholly  by  all  his  former  notions,  and  the  opinions 

^  Edition  of  1706:  the  1812  edition  reads,  "  difference." 
2  Hippocrates,  a  great  Greek  physician  of  the  fifth  century  B.C. 
It  is  probable  that  by  the  "  other  book  "  Locke  means  the  Bible. 


36.  QUESTION— 37.  PERSEVERANCE  247 

of  others,  examine,  with  a  perfect  indifferency,  the  ques- 
tion in  its  source,  without  any  inchnation  to  either  side 
or  any  regard  to  his  or  others'  unexamined  opinions. 
This  I  own  is  no  easy  thing  to  do  ;  but  I  am  not  inquiring 
the  easy  way  to  opinion,  but  the  right  way  to  truth,, 
which  they  must  follow  who  will  deal  fairly  with  their 
own  understandings  and  their  own  souls. 

36.  Question. — The  indifferency  that  I  here  propose  will 
also  enable  them  to  state  the  question  right  which  they 
are  in  doubt  about,  without  which  they  can  never  come 
to  a  fair  and  clear  decision  of  it. 

37.  Perseverance. — Another  fruit  from  this  indifferency, 
and  the  considering  things  in  themselves  abstract^  from 
our  own  opinions  and  other  men's  notions  and  discourses 
on  them,  will  be,  that  each  man  will  pursue  his  thoughts 
in  that  method  which  will  be  most  agreeable  to  the  nature 
of  the  thing,  and  to  his  apprehension  of  what  it  suggests 
to  him,  in  which  he  ought  to  proceed  with  regularity  and 
constancy,  until  he  come  to  a  well-grounded  resolution 
wherein  he  may  acquiesce.  If  it  be  objected  that  this 
will  require  every  man  to  be  a  scholar,  and  quit  all  his 
other  business  and  betake  himself  wholly  to  study,  I 
answer,  I  propose  no  more  to  any  one  than  he  has  time 
for.  Some  men's  state  and  condition  require  no  great 
extent  of  knowledge ;  the  necessary  provision  for  life 
swallows  the  greatest  part  of  their  time.  But  one  man's 
want  of  leisure  is  no  excuse  for  the  oscitancy^  and  ignor- 
ance of  those  who  have  time  to  spare  ;  and  every  one  has 
enough  to  get  as  much  knowledge  as  is  required  and 
expected  of  him,  and  he  that  does  not  that,  is  in  love  with 
ignorance,  and  is  accountable  for  it. 

38.  Presumption. — The  variety  of  distempers  in  men's 
minds  is  as  great  as  of  those  in  their  bodies  ;  some  are 
epidemic,  few  escape  them  ;  and  every  one  too,  if  he 
would  look  into  himself,  would  find  some  defect  of  his 
particular  genius.  There  is  scarce  any  one  without  some 
idiosyncrasy  that  he  suffers  by.  This  man  presumes 
upon  his  parts,  that  they  will  not  fail  him  at  time  of  need  ; 

*  I.e.,  abstracted.  '  Yawning. 


248  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

and  so  thinks  it  superfluous  labour  to  make  any  provision 
beforehand.  His  understanding  is  to  him  like  Fortu- 
natus's  purse/  which  is  always  to  furnish  him,  without 
ever  putting  anything  into  it  beforehand  ;  and  so  he  sits 
still  satisfied,  without  endeavouring  to  store  his  under- 
standing with  knowledge.  It  is  the  spontaneous  product 
of  the  country,  and  what  need  of  labour  in  tillage  ?  Such 
men  may  spread  their  native  riches  before  the  ignorant ; 
but  they  were  best  not  come  to  stress  and  trial  with  the 
skilful.  We  are  born  ignorant  of  everything.  The 
superficies  of  things  that  surround  them  make  impressions 
on  the  negligent,  but  nobody  penetrates  into  the  inside 
without  labour,  attention,  and  industry.  Stones  and 
timber  grow  of  themselves,  but  yet  there  is  no  uniform 
pile  with  symmetry  and  convenience  to  lodge  in  without 
toil  and  pains.  God  has  made  the  intellectual  world 
harmonious  and  beautiful  without  us  ;  but  it  will  never 
come  into  our  heads  all  at  once ;  we  must  bring  it  home 
piecemeal,  and  there  set  it  up  by  our  own  industry,  or  else 
we  shall  have  nothing  but  darkness  and  a  chaos  within, 
whatever  order  and  light  there  be  in  things  without  us. 

39.  Despondency. — On  the  other  side,  there  are  others 
that  depress  their  own  minds,  despond  at  the  first  dijBfi- 
culty,  and  conclude  that  the  getting  an  insight  in  any  of 
the  sciences,  or  making  any  progress  in  knowledge  farther 
than  serves  their  ordinary  business,  is  above  their  capaci- 
ties. These  sit  still,  because  they  think  they  have  not 
legs  to  go  ;  as  the  others  I  last  mentioned  do,  because 
they  think  they  have  wings  to  fly,  and  can  soar  on  high 
when  they  please.  To  these  latter  one  may  for  answer 
apply  the  proverb,  "  Use  legs  and  have  legs."  Nobody 
knows  what  strength  of  parts  he  has  till  he  has  tried  them. 
And  of  the  understanding  one  may  most  truly  say,  that 
its  force  is  greater  generally  than  it  thinks,  till  it  is  put 
to  it.     "  Viresque  acquirit  eundo."^ 

And  therefore  the  proper  remedy  here  is  but  to  set  the 

^  Fortune  at  his  request  gave  Fortunatus  an  inexhaustible  purse, 
which  proved  his  ruin. 

2  "  And  it  gathers  strength  in  the  going"  {^neid,  iv.  175).  On 
this  section,  cf.  Thoughts,  sec.  195. 


39.  DESPONDENCY  249 

mind  to  work,  and  apply  the  thoughts  vigorously  to  the 
business  ;  for  it  holds  in  the  struggles  of  the  mind  as  in 
those  of  war,  "  dum  putant  se  vincere  vicere."^  A  per- 
suasion that  we  shall  overcome  any  difficulties  that  we 
meet  with  in  the  sciences  seldom  fails  to  carry  us  through 
them.  Nobody  knows  the  strength  of  his  mind,  and  the 
force  of  steady  and  regular  appUcation,  till  he  has  tried. 
This  is  certain,  he  that  sets  out  upon  weak  legs,  will  not 
only  go  farther,  but  grow  stronger  too  than  one  who,  with 
a  vigorous  constitution  and  firm  limbs,  only  sits  still. 

Something  of  kin  to  this  men  may  observe  in  themselves, 
when  the  mind  frights  itself  (as  it  often  does)  with  any- 
thing reflected  on  in  gross,  and  transiently  viewed  con- 
fusedly and  at  a  distance.  Things  thus  offered  to  the 
mind  carry  the  show  of  nothing  but  difficulty  in  them, 
and  are  thought  to  be  wrapt  up  in  impenetrable  obscurity. 
But  the  truth  is,  these  are  nothing  but  spectres  that  the 
understanding  raises  to  itself  to  flatter  its  own  laziness. 
It  sees  nothing  distinctly  in  things  remote  and  in  a  huddle  ; 
and  therefore  concludes  too  faintly,  that  there  is  nothing 
more  clear  to  be  discovered  in  them.  It  is  but  to  ap- 
proach nearer,  and  that  mist  of  our  own  raising  that 
enveloped  them  will  remove  ;  and  those  that  in  that  mist 
appeared  hideous  giants  not  to  be  grappled  with,  will  be 
found  to  be  of  the  ordinary  and  natural  size  and  shape. 
Things  that  in  a  remote  and  confused  view  seem  very 
obscure,  must  be  approached  by  gentle  and  regular  steps  ; 
and  what  is  most  visible,  easy,  and  obvious  in  them  first 
considered.  Eeduce  them  into  their  distinct  parts  ;  and 
then  in  their  due  order  bring  all  that  should  be  known 
concerning  every  one  of  those  parts  into  plain  and  simple 
questions ;  and  then  what  was  thought  obscure,  per- 
plexed, and  too  hard  for  our  weak  parts,  will  lay  itself 
open  to  the  understanding  in  a  fair  view,  and  let  the 
mind  into  that  which  before^  it  was  awed  with,  and  kept 
at  a  distance  from,  as  wholly  mysterious.     I  appeal  to 

^  "  They  conquered  as  long  as  they  believed  they  were  conquer- 
ing," (Liv.,  ii.  64). 
^  Previously. 


250  CONDUCT  OP  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

my  reader's  experience,  whether  this  has  never  happened 
to  him,  especially  when,  busy  on  one  thing,  he  has  occa- 
sionally reflected  on  another.  I  ask  him  whether  he  has 
never  thus  been  scared  with  a  sudden  opinion  of  mighty 
difficulties,  which  yet  have  vanished,  when  ho  has  seriously 
and  methodically  applied  himself  to  the  consideration 
of  this  seeming  terrible  subject ;  and  there  has  been  no 
other  matter  of  astonishment  left,  but  that  he  amused 
himself  with  so  discouraging  a  prospect  of  his  own  raising, 
about  a  matter  which  in  the  handling  was  found  to  have 
nothing  in  it  more  strange  nor  intricate  than  several 
other  things  which  he  had  long  since,  and  with  ease, 
mastered.  This  experience  would  teach  us  how  to  deal 
with  such  bugbears  another  time,  which  should  rather 
serve  to  excite  our  vigour  than  enervate  our  industry. 
The  surest  way  for  a  learner  in  this,  as  in  all  other  cases, 
is  not  to  advance  by  jumps  and  large  strides  ;  let  that 
wliich  he  sets  himself  to  learn  next  be  indeed  the  next, 
i.e.,  as  nearly  conjoined  with  what  he  knows  already  as 
is  possible  ;  let  it  be  distinct,  but  not  remote  from  it ;  let 
it  be  new,  and  what  he  did  not  know  before,  that  the 
understanding  may  advance ;  but  let  it  be  as  little  at  once 
as  may  be,  that  its  advances  may  be  clear  and  sure.^  All 
the  ground  that  it  gets  this  way  it  will  hold.  This  distinct 
gradual  growth  in  knowledge  is  firm  and  sure  ;  it  carries 
its  own  light  with  it  in  every  step  of  its  progression  in 
an  easy  and  orderly  train ;  ^  than  which  there  is  nothing 
of  more  use  to  the  understanding.  And  though  this 
perhaps  may  seem  a  very  slow  and  lingering  way  to 
knowledge,  yet  I  dare  confidently  affirm,  that  whoever 
will  try  it  in  himself,  or  any  one  he  will  teach,  shall  find 
the  advances  greater  in  this  method,  than  they  would  in 
the  same  space  of  time  have  been  in  any  other  he  could 
have  taken.  The  greatest  part  of  true  knowledge  lies  in 
a  distinct  perception  of  things  in  themselves  distinct. 
And  some  men  give  more  clear  light  and  knowledge  by 
the  bare  distinct  stating  of  a  question,  than  others  by 
talking  of  it  in  gross,  whole  hours  together.  In  this,  they 
^  See  Thoughts,  sec.  180.  2  Sequence. 


39.  DESPONDENCY— 40.  ANALOGY  261 

who  so  state  a  question,  do  no  more  but  separate  and  dis- 
entangle the  parts  of  it  one  from  another,  and  lay  them, 
when  so  disentangled,  in  their  due  order.  This  often, 
without  any  more  ado,  resolves  the  doubt,  and  shows  the 
mind  where  the  truth  lies.  The  agreement  or  disagree- 
ment of  the  ideas  in  question,  when  they  are  once  separated 
and  distinctly  considered,  is,  in  many  cases,  presently 
perceived,  and  thereby  clear  and  lasting  knowledge 
gained,^  whereas  things  in  gross  taken  up  together,  and 
so  lying  together  in  confusion,  can  produce  in  the  mind 
but  a  confused,  which  in  effect  is  no,  knowledge  ;  or  at 
least,  when  it  comes  to  be  examined  and  made  use  of,  will 
prove  little  better  than  none.  I  therefore  take  the  liberty 
to  repeat  here  again  what  I  have  said  elsewhere,^  that  in 
learning  anything,  as  little  should  be  proposed  to  the 
mind  at  once  as  is  possible  ;  and,  that  being  understood 
and  fully  mastered,  to  proceed  to  the  next  adjoining  part, 
yet  unknown,  simple,  unperplexed  proposition,  belonging 
to  the  matter  in  hand,  and  tending  to  the  clearing  what  is 
principally  designed.^ 

40.  Analogy.'* — Analogy  is  of  great  use  to  the  mind  in 
many  cases,  especially  in  natural  philosophy  ;  and  that 
part  of  it  chiefly  which  consists  in  happy  and  successful 
experiments.  But  here  we  must  take  care  that  we  keep 
ourselves  within  that  wherein  the  analogy  consists.  For 
example  :  the  acid  oil  of  vitriol  is  found  to  be  good  in  such 
a  case,  therefore  the  spirit  of  nitre  or  vinegar  may  be 
used  in  the  like  case.  If  the  good  effect  of  it  be  owing 
wholly  to  the  acidity  of  it,  the  trial  may  be  justified  ; 

^  Cf.  Thoughts,  sec.  195,  at  close. 
2  See  sec.  28,  and  Thoughts,  sees.  167,  180,  195. 
^  Save  for  differences  of  punctuation,  this  is  the  reading  of  the 
editions  of  1706  and  1714.  The  following  emendation  is  suggested : 
"  and,  that  being  understood  and  fully  mastered,  to  proceed  to  the 
next  adjoining  part  yet  unknown ;  [to  state]  what  is  belonging  to 
the  matter  in  hand  as  simple,  unperplexed  proposition  [s,  and  so] 
tending  to  clear  it,  [is]  what  is  principally  designed."  The  reader 
wiU  remember  that  the  Conduct  is  a  posthumous  work. 

*  Analogy(d«'a\o7ia,  proportion)  is  an  inference  from  resemblance, 
or  partial  identity:  A  and  B  are  alike  in  possessing  the  qualities 
X,  y,  z  ;  A  has  the  quality  I  and,  by  analogy,  B  also  has  it. 


252  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

but  if  there  be  something  else  besides  the  acidity  in  the 
oil  of  vitriol,  which  produces  the  good  we  desire  in  the 
case,  we  mistake  that  for  analogy  which  is  not,  and  suffer 
our  understanding  to  be  misguided  by  a  wrong  supposition 
of  analogy  where  there  is  none. 

41.  Association. — Though  I  have,  in  the  second  book  of 
my  Essay  concerning  Human  Understanding,^  treated 
of  the  association  of  ideas  ;  yet  having  done  it  there 
historically,  as  giving  a  view  of  the  understanding  in  this 
as  well  as  its  several  other  ways  of  operating,  rather 
than  designing  there  to  inquire  into  the  remedies  that 
ought  to  be  applied  to  it ;  it  will,  under  this  latter  con- 
sideration, afford  other  matter  of  thought  to  those  who 
have  a  mind  to  instruct  themselves  thoroughly  in  the  right 
way  of  conducting  their  understandings  :  and  that  the 
rather,  because  this,  if  I  mistake  not,  is  as  frequent  a 
cause  of  mistake  and  error  in  us  as  perhaps  anything  else 
that  can  be  named  ;  and  is  a  disease  of  the  mind  as  hard 
to  be  cured  as  any,  it  being  a  very  hard  thing  to  convince 
any  one  that  things  are  not  so,  and  naturally  so,  as  they 
constantly  appear  to  him. 

By  this  one  easy  and  unheeded  miscarriage  of  the  under- 
standing, sandy  and  loose  foundations  become  infaUible 
principles,  and  will  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  touched  or 
questioned  ;  such  unnatural  connexions  become  by  custom 
as  natural  to  the  mind  as  [that]  sun  and  light,  fire  and 
warmth  go  together,  and  so  seem  to  carry  with  them  as 
natural  an  evidence  as  self-evident  truths  themselves. 
And  where  then  shall  one  with  hopes  of  success  begin 
the  cure  ?  Many  men  firmly  embrace  falsehood  for  truth  ; 
not  only  because  they  never  thought  otherwise,  but  also 
because,  thus  blinded  as  they  have  been  from  the  begin- 
ning, they  never  could  think  otherwise  ;  at  least  without 
a  vigour  of  mind  able  to  contest  the  empire  of  habit,  and 
look  into  its  own  principles  ;  a  freedom  which  few  men 
have  the  notion  of  in  themselves,  and  fewer  are  allowed 
the  practice  of  by  others  ;  it  being  the  great  art  and  busi- 
ness of  the  teachers  and  guides  in  most  sects  to  suppress, 
^  Chap,  xxxiii. 


41.  ASSOCIATION  263 

as  much  as  they  can,  this  fundamental  duty  which  every 
man  owes  himself,  and  is  the  first  steady  step  towards 
right  and  truth  in  the  whole  train  of  his  actions  and 
opinions.  This  would  give  one  reason  to  suspect,  that 
such  teachers  are  conscious  to  themselves  of  the  falsehood 
or  weakness  of  the  tenets  they  profess,  since  they  will 
not  suffer  the  grounds  whereon  they  are  built  to  be 
examined ;  whereas  those  who  seek  truth  only,  and 
desire  to  own  and  propagate  nothing  else,  freely  expose 
their  principles  to  the  test  ;  are  pleased  to  have  them 
^examined  ;  give  men  leave  to  reject  them  if  they  can  ; 
and  if  there  be  anything  weak  and  unsound  in  them,  are 
willing  to  have  it  detected,  that  they  themselves,  as  well 
as  others,  may  not  lay  any  stress  upon  any  received 
proposition  bej^ond  what  the  evidence  of  its  truths  will 
warrant  and  allow. 

There  is,  I  know,  a  great  fault  among  all  sorts  of  people 
of  principling  their  children  and  scholars  ;  which  at  least, 
when  looked  into,  amounts  to  no  more  but  making  them 
imbibe  their  teacher's  notions  and  tenets  by  an  implicit 
faith,  and  firmly  to  adhere  to  them  whether  true  or  false. 
What  colours  may  be  given  to  this,  or  of  what  use  it  may 
be  when  practised  upon  the  vulgar,  destined  to  labour, 
and  given  up  to  the  service  of  their  bellies,  I  will  not  here 
inquire.  But  as  to  the  ingenuous  part  of  mankind, 
whose  condition  allows  them  leisure,  and  letters,  and  in- 
quiry after  truth,  I  can  see  no  other  right  way  of  prin- 
cipling them,  but  to  take  heed,  as  much  as  may  be,  that 
in  their  tender  years,  ideas  that  have  no  natural  cohesion 
come  not  to  be  united  in  their  heads  ;  and  that  this  rule 
be  often  inculcated  to  them  to  be  their  guide  in  the  whole 
course  of  their  lives  and  studies,  viz.,  that  they  never 
suffer  any  ideas  to  be  joined  in  their  understandings  in 
any  other  or  stronger  combination  than  what  their  own 
nature^  and  correspondence  give  them  ;  and  that  they 
often  examine  those  that  they  find  linked  together  in 
their  minds,  whether  this  association  of  ideas  be  from  the 
visible  agreement  that  is  in  the  ideas  themselves,  or  from 
^  I.e.,  the  nature  of  the  ideas. 


264  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

the  habitual  and  prevaihng  custom  of  the  mind  joining 
them  thus  together  in  thinking. 

This  is  for  caution  against  this  evil,  before  it  be  thor- 
oughly riveted  by  custom  in  the  understanding ;  but  he 
that  would  cure  it  when  habit  has  established  it,  must 
nicely  observe  the  very  quick  and  almost  imperceptible 
motions  of  the  mind  in  its  habitual  actions.  What  I 
have  said  in  another  place ^  about  the  change  of  the  ideas  of 
sense  into  those  of  judgment  may  be  proof  of  this.  Let 
any  one,  not  skilled  in  painting,  be  told  when  he  sees 
bottles  and  tobacco-pipes,  and  other  things  so  painted, 
as  they  are  in  some  places  shown,  that  he  does  not  see 
protuberances,  and  you  will  not  convince  him  but  by  the 
touch ;  he  will  not  believe  that  by  an  instantaneous 
legerdemain  of  his  own  thoughts,  one  idea  is  substituted 
for  another.  How  frequent  instances  may  one  meet  with 
of  this  in  the  arguings  of  the  learned,  who  not  seldom, 
in  two  ideas  that  they  have  been  accustomed  to  join  in 
their  minds,  substitute  one  for  the  other ;  and  I  am  apt 
to  think,  often  without  perceiving  it  themselves  !  This, 
whilst  they  are  under  the  deceit  of  it,  makes  them  incapable 
of  conviction,  and  they  applaud  themselves  as  zealous 
champions  for  truth,  when  indeed  they  are  contending 
for  error.  And  the  confusion  of  two  different  ideas, 
which  a  customary  connexion  of  them  in  their  minds 
hath  made  to  them  almost  one,  fills  their  head  with  false 
views,  and  their  reasonings  with  false  consequences. 

42.  Fallacies. — Eight  understanding  consists  in  the  dis- 
covery and  adherence  to  truth,  and  that  in  the  perception 
of  the  visible  or  probable  agreement  or  disagreement  of 
ideas,  as  they  are  aflfirmed  and  denied  one  of  another. 
From  whence  it  is  evident,  that  the  right  use  and  conduct 
of  the  understanding,  whose  business  is  purely  truth  and 
nothing  else,  is,  that  the  mind  should  be  kept  in  a  perfect 
indifferency,  not  inclining  to  either  side,  any  farther 
than  evidence  settles  it  by  knowledge,  or  the  over-balance 

^  Essay,  ii.,  chap.  ix. :  "  We  are  farther  to  consider  concerning  per- 
ception, that  the  ideas  we  received  by  sensation  are  often  by  grown 
people  altered  by  the  judgment  without  our  taking  notice  of  it,"  etc. 


42.  FALLACIES  256 

of  probability  gives  it  the  turn  of  assent  and  belief ;  but 
yet  it  is  very  hard  to  meet  with  any  discourse  wherein 
one  may  not  perceive  the  author  not  only  maintain  (for 
that  is  reasonable  and  fit)  but  inclined  and  biassed  to  one 
side  of  the  question,  with  marks  of  a  desire  that  that 
should  be  true.  If  it  be  asked  me,  how  authors  who  have 
such  a  bias  and  lean  to  it  may  be  discovered  ;  I  answer, 
by  observing  how  in  their  writings  or  arguings  they  are 
often  led  by  their  inclinations  to  change  the  ideas  of  the 
question,  either  by  changing  the  terms,  or  by  adding  and 
joining  others  to  them,  whereby  the  ideas  under  considera- 
tion are  so  varied  as  to  be  more  serviceable  to  their 
purpose,  and  to  be  thereby  brought  to  an  easier  and  nearer 
agreement,  or  more  visible  and  remoter  disagreement  one 
with  another.  This  is  plain  and  direct  sophistry ;  but  I 
am  far  from  thinking  that  wherever  it  is  found  it  is  made 
use  of  with  design  to  deceive  and  mislead  the  readers. 
It  is  visible  that  men's  prejudices  and  inclinations  by  this 
way  impose  often  upon  themselves  ;  and  their  affection 
for  truth,  under  their  prepossession  in  favour  of  one  side, 
is  the  very  thing  that  leads  them  from  it.  Inclination 
suggests  and  slides  into  their  discourse  favourable  terms, 
which  introduce  favourable  ideas  ;  till  at  last  by  this 
means  that  is  concluded  clear  and  evident,  thus  dressed 
up,  which,  taken  in  its  native  state,  by  making  use  of 
none  but  the  precise  determined  ideas,  would  find  no 
admittance  at  all.  The  putting  these  glosses  on  what 
they  affirm,  these,  as  they  are  thought,  handsome,  easy, 
and  graceful  exphcations  of  what  they  are  discoursing 
on,  is  so  much  the  character  of  what  is  called  and  esteemed 
writing  well,  that  it  is  very  hard  to  tliink  that  authors 
will  ever  be  persuaded  to  leave  what  serves  so  well  to 
propagate  their  opinions,  and  procure  themselves  credit 
in  the  world,  for  a  more  jejune  and  dry  way  of  writing, 
by  keeping  to  the  same  terms  precisely  annexed  to  the 
same  ideas  ;  a  sour  and  blunt  stiffness  tolerable  in  mathe- 
maticians only,  who  force  their  way,  and  make  truth  pre- 
vail^by  irresistible  demonstration. 

But  yet  if  authors  cannot  be  prevailed  with  to  quit  the 


256  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

looser,  though  more  insinuating  ways  of  writing ;  if  they 
will  not  think  fit  to  keep  close  to  truth  and  instruction 
by  unvaried  terms  and  plain  unsophisticated  arguments ; 
yet  it  concerns  readers  not  to  be  imposed  on  by  fallacies 
and  the  prevailing  ways  of  insinuation.  To  do  this/  the 
surest  and  most  effectual  remedy  is  to  fix  in  the  mind 
the  clear  and  distinct  ideas  of  the  question  stripped  of 
words  ;  and  so  likewise  in  the  train  of  argumentation,  to 
take  up  the  author's  ideas,  neglecting  his  words,  observing 
how  they  connect  or  separate  those  in  question.  He 
that  does  this  will  be  able  to  cast  off  all  that  is  superfluous  ; 
he  will  see  what  is  pertinent,  what  coherent,  what  is 
direct  to,  what  slides  by  the  question.  This  will  readily 
show  him  all  the  foreign  ideas  in  the  discourse,  and  where 
they  were  brought  in  ;  and  though  they  perhaps  dazzled 
the  writer,  yet  he  will  perceive  that  they  give  no  light  nor 
strength  to  his  reasonings. 

This,  though  it  be  the  shortest  and  easiest  way  of 
reading  2  books  with  profit,  and  keeping  one's  self  from 
being  misled  by  great  names  or  plausible  discourses  ;  yet 
it  being  hard  and  tedious  to  those  who  have  not  accus- 
tomed themselves  to  it,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  every 
one  (amongst  those  few  who  really  pursue  truth)  should 
this  way  guard  his  understanding  from  being  imposed  on 
by  the  wilful,  or  at  least  undesigned  sophistry,  which 
creeps  into  most  of  the  books  of  argument.  They  that 
write  against  their  conviction,  or  that,  next  to  them,  are 
resolved  to  maintain  the  tenets  of  a  party  they  were 
engaged  in,  cannot  be  supposed  to  reject  any  arms  that 
may  help  to  defend  their  cause,  and  therefore  such  should 
be  read  with  the  greatest  caution.  And  they  who  write 
for  opinions  they  are  sincerely  persuaded  of  and  believe 
to  be  true,  think  they  may  so  far  allow  themselves  to 
indulge  their  laudable  affection  to  truth,  as  to  permit 
their  esteem  of  it  to  give  it  the  best  colours,  and  set  it 
off  with  the  best  expressions  and  dress  they  can,  thereby 
to  gain  it  the  easiest  entrance  into  the  minds  of  their 
readers,  and  fix  it  deepest  there. 

^  I.e.,  to  prevent  this  imposition.  ^  See  sec.  20. 


42.  FALLACIES— 43.  FUNDAMENTAL  VERITIES     251 

One  of  those  being  the  state  of  mind  we  may  justly 
suppose  most  writers  to  be  in,  it  is  fit  their  readers,  who 
apply  to  them  for  instruction,  should  not  lay  by  that 
caution  which  becomes  a  sincere  pursuit  of  truth,  and 
should  make  them   always  watchful   against  whatever 
might  conceal  or  misrepresent  it.     If  they  have  not  the 
skill  of  representing  to  themselves  the  author's  sense  by 
pure  ideas  separated  from  sounds,  and  thereby  divested 
of  the  false  lights^  and  deceitful  ornaments  of  speech  ; 
this  yet  they  should  do,  they  should  keep  the  precise 
question  steadily  in  their  minds,  carry  it  along  with  them 
through  the  whole  discourse,  and  suffer  not  the  least 
alteration  in  the  terms,  either  by  addition,  subtraction, 
or  substituting  any  other.     This  every  one  can  do  who 
has  a  mind  to  it ;  and  he  that  has  not  a  mind  to  it,  it  is 
plain,  makes  his  understanding  only  the  warehouse  of 
other  men's  lumber ;   I  mean  false  and  unconcluding^ 
reasonings,  rather  than  a  repository  of  truth  for  liis  own 
use,  which  will  prove  substantial,  and  stand  him  in  stead, 
when  he  has  occasion  for  it.     And  whether  such  an  one 
deals  fairly  by  his  own  mind,   and  conducts  his  own 
understanding  right,  I  leave  to  his  own  understanding  to 
judge. 

43.  Fundamental  Verities. — The  mind  of  man  being 
very  narrow,  and  so  slow  in  making  acquaintance  with 
things,  and  taking  in  new  truths,  that  no  one  man  is 
capable,  in  a  much  longer  life  than  ours,  to  know  all 
truths  ;  it  becomes  our  prudence,  in  our  search  after 
knowledge,  to  employ  our  thoughts  about  fundamental 
and  material  questions,  carefully  avoiding  those  that  are 
trifling,  and  not  suffering  oui-selves  to  be  diverted  from 
our  main  even  purpose,  by  those  that  are  merely  incidental. 
How  much  of  many  young  men's  time  is  thrown  away  in 
purely  logical  inquiries  ^  I  need  not  mention.  This  is  no 
better  than  if  a  man,  who  was  to  be  a  painter,  should  spend 
all  his  time  in  examining  the  threads  of  the  several  cloths 
he  is  to  paint  upon,  and  counting  the  hairs  of  each  pencil 

^  Wreckers'  beacons.  ^  Inconclusive. 

3  Cf.  sees.  7,  31,  44,  and  Thoughts,  sees.  166,  188,  189. 

17 


258  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

and  brush  he  intends  to  use  in  the  laying  on  of  his  colours. 
Nay,  it  is  much  worse  than  for  a  young  painter  to  spend 
his  apprenticeship  in  such  useless  niceties  ;  for  he,  at  the 
end  of  all  his  pains  to  no  purpose,  finds  that  it  is  not 
painting,  nor  any  help  to  it,  and  so  is  really  to  no  purpose  ; 
whereas  men  designed  for  scholars  have  often  their  heads 
so  filled  and  warmed  with  disputes  on  logical  questions, 
that  they  take  those  airy  useless  notions  for  real  and 
substantial  knowledge,  and  think  their  understandings  so 
well  furnished  with  science,  that  they  need  not  look  any 
farther  into  the  nature  of  things,  or  descend  to  the 
mechanical  drudgery  of  experiment  and  inquiry.  This  is 
so  obvious  a  mismanagement  of  the  understanding,  and 
that  in  the  professed  way  to  knowledge,  that  it  could  not 
be  passed  by  ;  to  which  might  be  joined  abundance  of 
questions,  and  the  way  of  handling  of  them  in  the  schools.^ 
What  faults  in  particular  of  this  kind  every  man  is  or 
may  be  guilty  of  would  be  infinite  to  enumerate  ;  it  sufifices 
to  have  shown  that  superficial  and  slight  discoveries,  and 
observations  that  contain  nothing  of  moment  in  them- 
selves, nor  serve  as  clues  to  lead  us  into  farther  knowledge, 
should  not  be  thought  worth  our  searching  after. 

There  are  fundamental  truths  that  He  at  the  bottom, 
the  basis  upon  which  a  great  many  others  rest,  and  in 
which  they  have  their  consistency.  These  are  teeming 
truths,  rich  in  store,  with  which  they  furnish  the  mind, 
and,  like  the  lights  of  heaven,  are  not  only  beautiful  and 
entertaining  in  themselves,  but  give  Hght  and  evidence 
to  other  things,  that  without  them  could  not  be  seen  or 
known.  Such  is  that  admirable  discovery  ^  of  Mr.  Newton, 
that  all  bodies  gravitate  to  one  another,  which  may  be 
counted  as  the  basis  of  natural  philosophy  ;  which,  of  what 
use  it  is  to  the  understanding  of  the  great  frame  of  our 
solar  system,  he  has  to  the  astonishment  of  the  learned 
world  shown  ;  and  how  much  farther  it  would  guide  us 
in  other  things,  if  rightly  pursued,  is  not  yet  known. 

^  I.e.,  in  the  formal  exercises  of  the  universities.     An  examina- 
tion or  course  of  study  is  still  termed  a  "  school  "  at  Oxford. 
2  First  made  public  in  his  Principia,  1687. 


43.  FUNDAMENTAL  VEEITIES— 44.  BOTTOMING   259 

Our  Saviour's  great  rule,  that  "  we  should  love  our  neigh- 
bour as  ourselves,"  is  such  a  fundamental  truth  for  the 
regulating  human  society,  that  I  think  by  that  alone  one 
might  without  difficulty  determine  all  the  cases  and 
doubts  in  social  morality.^  These  and  such  as  these  are 
the  truths  we  should  endeavour  to  find  out,  and  store  our 
minds  with.  Which  leads  me  to  another  thing  in  the 
conduct  of  the  understanding  that  is  no  less  necessary,  viz. : 

44.  Bottoming. — To  accustom  ourselves,  in  any  question 
proposed,  to  examine  and  find  out  upon  what  it  bottoms. 
Most  of  the  difficulties  that  come  in  our  way,  when  well 
considered  and  traced,  lead  us  to  some  proposition, 
which,  known  to  be  true,  clears  the  doubt,  and  gives  an 
easy  solution  of  the  question  ;  wliilst  topical  and  superficial 
arguments,  of  which  there  is  store  to  be  found  on  both 
sides,  filling  the  head  with  variety  of  thoughts,  and  the 
mouth  with  copious  discourse,  serve  only  to  amuse  the 
understanding,  and  entertain  company,  without  coming 
to  the  bottom  of  the  question,  the  only  place  of  rest  and 
stabihty  for  an  inquisitive  mind,  whose  tendency  is  only 
to  truth  and  knowledge. 

For  example,  if  it  be  demanded  whether  the  grand 
seignior^  can  lawfully  take  what  he  will  from  any  of  his 
people  ?  This  question  cannot  be  resolved  without 
coming  to  a  certainty  whether  all  men  are  naturally  equal, 
for  upon  that  it  turns  ;  and  that  truth  well  settled  in  the 
understanding,  and  carried  in  the  mind  through  the 
various  debates  concerning  the  various  rights  of  men  in 
society,  will  go  a  great  way  in  putting  an  end  to  them, 
and  showing  on  which  side  the  truth  is. 

45.  Transferring  of  Thoughts. — There  is  scarcely  any- 
thing more  for  the  improvement  of  knowledge,  for  the 
ease  of  life,  and  the  despatch  of  business,  than  for  a  man 
to  be  able  to  dispose  of  his  own  thoughts  ;  and  there  is 

^  "I  am  never  to  act  otherwise  than  so  that  I  could  also  will 
that  my  maxim  should  become  a  universal  law  "  (Kant). 

2  The  Turkish  Sultan.  In  1690,  Locke  (Two  Treatises  of  Govern- 
ment) had  maintained  that  man  is  born  with  a  title  to  perfect  free- 
dom and  uncontrolled  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  the  law  of  nature. 


260  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

scarcely  anything  harder  in  the  whole  conduct  of  the 
understanding  than  to  get  a  full  mastery  over  it.  The 
mind,  in  a  waking  man,  has  always  some  object  that  it 
applies  itself  to  ;  which,  when  we  are  lazy  or  unconcerned, 
we  can  easily  change,  and  at  pleasure  transfer  our  thoughts 
to  another,  and  from  thence  to  a  third,  which  has  no 
relation  to  either  of  the  former.  Hence  men  forwardly 
conclude,  and  frequently  say,  nothing  is  so  free  as  thought, 
and  it  were  well  it  were  so  ;  but  the  contrary  will  be  found 
true  in  several  instances ;  and  there  are  many  cases 
wherein  there  is  nothing  more  resty  and  ungovernable 
than  our  thoughts  ;  they  will  not  be  directed  what  objects 
to  pursue,  nor  be  taken  off  from  those  they  have  once 
fixed  on,  but  run  away  with  a  man  in  the  pursuit  of  those 
ideas  they  have  in  view,  let  him  do  what  he  can. 

I  will  not  here  mention  again  what  I  have  above  taken 
notice  of,  how  hard  it  is  to  get  the  mind,  narrowed  by  a 
custom  of  thirty  or  forty  years'  standing  to  a  scanty 
collection  of  obvious  and  common  ideas,  to  enlarge  itself 
to  a  more  copious  stock,  and  grow  into  an  acquaintance 
with  those  that  would  afford  more  abundant  matter  of 
useful  contemplation  ;  it  is  not  of  this  I  am  here  speaking. 
The  inconveniency  I  would  here  represent,  and  find  a 
,  remedy  for,  is  the  difficulty  there  is  sometimes  to  transfer 
T  our  minds  from  one  subject  to  another,  in  cases  where  the 
ideas  are  equally  familiar  to  us. 

Matters  that  are  recommended  to  our  thoughts  by  any 
of  our  passions,  take  possession  of  our  minds  with  a  kind 
of  authority,  and  will  not  be  kept  out  or  dislodged  ;  but 
as  if  the  passion  that  rules  were  for  the  time  the  sheriff 
of  the  place,  and  came  with  all  the  posse,^  the  under- 
standing is  seized  and  taken  with  the  object  it  introduces, 
as  if  it  had  a  legal  right  to  be  alone  considered  there. 
There  is  scarce  anybody  I  think  of  so  calm  a  temper  who 
hath  not  some  time  found  this  tyranny  on  his  under- 
standing, and  suffered  under  the  inconvenience  of  it. 

^  The  "  posse  comitatus,"  or  body  of  persons  summoned  by  the 
sheriff  of  the  county  (comitatus)  to  help  him  in  maintaining  order 
and  securing  obedience  to  the  King's  writ. 


45.  TRANSFERRING  OF  THOUGHTS  261 

Who  is  there  almost  whose  mind,  at  some  time  or  other, 
love  or  anger,  fear  or  grief,  has  not  so  fastened  to  some 
clog  that  it  could  not  turn  itself  to  any  other  object  ?  I 
call  it  a  clog,  for  it  hangs  upon  the  mind  so  as  to  hinder 
its  vigour  and  activity  in  the  pursuit  of  other  contem- 
plations ;  and  advances  itself  little  or  not  at  all  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  thing  which  it  so  closely  hugs  and 
constantly  pores  on.  Men  thus  possessed  are  sometimes 
as  if  they  were  so  in  the  worse  sense,  and  lay  under  the 
power  of  an  enchantment.  They  see  not  what  passes 
before  their  eyes,  hear  not  the  audible  discourse  of  the 
company,  and  when  by  any  strong  application  to  them 
they  are  roused  a  little,  they  are  like  men  brought  to 
themselves  from  some  remote  region  ;  whereas  in  truth 
they  come  no  farther  than  their  secret  cabinet  within, 
where  they  have  been  wholly  taken  up  with  the  puppet, 
which  is  for  that  time  appointed  for  their  entertainment. 
The  shame  that  such  dumps  cause  to  well-bred  people, 
when  it  carries  them  away  from  the  company,  where 
they  should  bear  a  part  in  the  conversation,  is  a  sufficient 
argument  that  it  is  a  fault  in  the  conduct  of  our  under- 
standing not  to  have  that  power  over  it  as  to  make  use  of 
it  to  those  purposes  and  on  those  occasions  wherein  we 
have  need  of  its  assistance.  The  mind  should  be  always 
free  and  ready  to  turn  itself  to  the  variety  of  objects 
that  occur,  and  allow  them  as  much  consideration  as  shall 
for  that  time  be  thought  fit.  To  be  engrossed  so  by  one 
object  as  not  to  be  prevailed  on  to  leave  it  for  another 
that  we  judge  fitter  for  our  contemplation,  is  to  make 
it  of  no  use  to  us.  Did  this  state  of  mind  remain  always 
so,  every  one  would,  without  scruple,  give  it  the  name  of 
perfect  madness  ;  and  whilst  it  does  last,  at  whatever 
intervals  it  returns,  such  a  rotation  of  thoughts  about  the 
same  object  no  more  carries  us  forward  towards  the  attain- 
ment of  knowledge,  than  getting  upon  a  mill-horse  whilst  he 
jogs  on  in  his  circular  track  would  carry  a  man  a  journey. 
I  grant  something  must  be  allowed  to  legitimate  passions 
and  to  natural  inclinations.  Every  man,  besides  occa- 
sional affections,  has  beloved  studies,  and  those  the  mind 


262         CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

will  more  closely  stick  to  ;  but  yet  it  is  best  that  it  should 
be  always  at  liberty,  and  under  the  free  disposal  of  the 
man,  and  to  act  how  and  upon  what  he  directs.  This 
we  should  endeavour  to  obtain  unless  we  would  be  content 
with  such  a  flaw  in  our  understanding,  that  sometimes  we 
should  be,  as  it  were,  without  it ;  ^  for  it  is  very  little  better 
than  so  in  cases  where  we  cannot  make  use  of  it  to  those 
purposes  we  would,  and  which  stand  in  present  need  of  it. 

But  before  fit  remedies  can  be  thought  on  for  this  disease 
we  must  know  the  several  causes  of  it,  and  thereby  regu- 
late the  cure,  if  we  will  hope  to  labour  with  success. 

One  we  have  already  instanced  in,  whereof  all  men  that 
reflect  have  so  general  a  knowledge,  and  so  often  an 
experience  in  themselves,  that  nobody  doubts  of  it.  A 
prevailing  passion  so  pins  down  our  thoughts  to  the  object 
and  concern  of  it,  that  a  man  passionately  in  love  cannot 
bring  himself  to  think  of  his  ordinary  affairs,  or  a  kind 
mother,  drooping  under  the  loss  of  a  child,  is  not  able  to 
bear  a  part  as  she  was  wont  in  the  discourse  of  the  com- 
pany, or  conversation  of  her  friends. 

But  though  passion  be  the  most  obvious  and  general, 
yet  it  is  not  the  only  cause  that  binds  up  the  understand- 
ing, and  confines  it  for  the  time  to  one  object,  from  which 
it  will  not  be  taken  off. 

Besides  this,  we  may  often  find  that  the  understanding, 
when  it  has  a  while  employed  itself  upon  a  subject  which 
either  chance  or  some  slight  accident  offered  to  it,  without 
the  interest  or  recommendation  of  any  passion,  works  itself 
into  a  warmth,  and  by  degrees  gets  into  a  career,  wherein, 
like  a  bowl  down  a  hill,  it  increases  its  motion  by  going, 
and  will  not  be  stopped  or  diverted  ;  though,  when  the 
heat  is  over,  it  sees  all  this  earnest  application  was  about 
a  trifle  not  worth  a  thought,  and  all  the  pains  employed 
about  it  lost  labour. 

There  is  a  third  sort,  if  I  mistake  not,  yet  lower  than 

this  ;  it  is  a  sort  of  childishness,  if  I  may  so  say,  of  the 

understanding,  wherein,  during  the  fit,  it  plays  with  and 

dandles  some  insignificant  puppet  to  no  end,  nor  with 

^  I.e.,  our  understanding. 


45.  TRANSFERRING  OF  THOUGHTS  263 

any  design  at  all,  and  yet  cannot  easily  be  got  off  from  it. 
Thus  some  trivial  sentence,  or  a  scrap  of  poetry,  will  some- 
times get  into  men's  heads,  and  make  such  a  chiming 
there,  that  there  is  no  stilling  of  it ;  no  peace  to  be  ob- 
tained, nor  attention  to  anything  else,  but  this  impertinent 
guest  will  take  up  the  mind  and  possess  the  thoughts  in 
spite  of  all  endeavours  to  get  rid  of  it.     Whether  every 
one  hath  experimented^  in  themselves  this  troublesome 
intrusion  of  some  frisking  ideas  which  thus  importune 
the  understanding,  and  hinder  it  from  being  better  em- 
ployed, I  know  not.     But  persons  of  very  good  parts, 
and  those  more  than  one,  I  have  heard  speak  and  com- 
plain of  it  themselves.     The  reason  I  have  to  make  this 
doubt,  is  from  what  I  have  known  in  a  case  something  of 
kin  to  this,  though  much  odder,  and  that  is  of  a  sort  of 
visions  that  some  people  have  lying  quiet,  but  perfectly 
awake,  in  the  dark,  or  with  their  eyes  shut.     It  is  a  great 
variety  of  faces,  most  commonly  very  odd  ones,  that 
appear  to  them  in  a  train  ^  one  after  another  ;  so  that 
having  had  just  the  sight  of  the  one,  it  immediately  passes 
away  to  give  place  to  another,  that  the  same  instant  suc- 
ceeds, and  has  as  quick  an  exit  as  its  leader  ;  and  so  they 
march  on  in  a  constant  succession  ;  nor  can  any  one  of 
them  by  any  endeavour  be  stopped  or  restrained  beyond 
the  instant  of  its  appearance,  but  is  thrust  out  by  its 
follower,  which  will  have  its  turn.     Concerning  this  fan- 
tastical phenomenon  I  have  talked  with  several  people, 
whereof  some  have  been  perfectly  acquainted  with  it, 
and  others  have  been  so  wholly  strangers  to  it  that  they 
could  hardly  be  brought  to  conceive  or  believe  it.     I 
knew  a  lady  of  excellent  parts,  who  had  got  past  thirty 
without  having  ever  had  the  least  notice  of  any  such 
thing ;  she  was  so  great  a  stranger  to  it,  that  when  she 
heard  me  and  another  talking  of  it,  could  scarcely  forbear 
thinking  we  bantered  her  ;  but  some  time  after,  drinking 
a  large  dose  of  dilute  tea  (as  she  was  ordered  by  a  physi- 
cian) going  to  bed,  she  told  us  at  next  meeting,  that  she 
had  now  experimented^  what  our  discourse  had  much  ado 
^  I.e.,  experienced.  ^  I.e.,  in  succession. 


264  CONDUCT  OF  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

to  persuade  her  of.  She  had  seen  a  great  variety  of  faces 
in  a  long  train,  succeeding  one  another,  as  we  had  de- 
scribed ;  they  were  all  strangers  and  intruders,  such  as 
she  had  no  acquaintance  with  before,  nor  sought  after 
then  ;  and  as  they  came  of  themselves,  they  went  too  ; 
none  of  them  stayed  a  moment,  nor  could  be  detained  by 
all  the  endeavours  she  could  use,  but  went  on  in  their 
solemn  procession,  just  appeared  and  then  vanished. 
This  odd  phenomenon  seems  to  have  a  mechanical  cause, 
and  to  depend  upon  the  matter  and  motion  of  the  blood 
or  animal  spirits.^ 

When  the  fancy  is  bound  by  passion,  I  know  no  way 
to  set  the  mind  free  and  at  liberty  to  prosecute  what 
thoughts  the  man  would  make  choice  of,  but  to  allay  the 
present  passion,  or  counterbalance  it  with  another  ;  which 
is  an  art  to  be  got  by  study,  and  acquaintance  with  the 
passions. 

Those  who  find  themselves  apt  to  be  carried  away  with 
the  spontaneous  current  of  their  own  thoughts,  not 
excited  by  any  passion  or  interest,  must  be  very  wary 
and  careful  in  all  the  instances  of  it  to  stop  it,  and  never 
humour  their  minds  in  being  thus  triflingly  busy.  Men 
know  the  value  of  their  corporeal  liberty,  and  therefore 
suffer  not  willingly  fetters  and  chains  to  be  put  upon  them. 
To  have  the  mind  captivated  is,  for  the  time,  certainly 
the  greater  evil  of  the  two,  and  deserves  our  utmost  care 
and  endeavours  to  preserve  the  freedom  of  our  better 
part.  In  this  case  our  pains  will  not  be  lost ;  striving 
and  struggling  will  prevail,  if  we  constantly  on  all  such 
occasions  make  use  of  it.  We  must  never  indulge  these 
trivial  attentions  of  thought ;  as  soon  as  we  find  the  mind 
makes  itself  a  business  of  nothing,  we  should  immediately 
disturb  and  check  it,  introduce  new  and  more  serious 
considerations,  and  not  leave  till  we  have  beaten  it  off 

^  A  reference  to  the  ancient  opinion  that  only  the  veins  contained 
blood,  while  the  arteries  during  life  were  filled  with  a  fluid  of  extreme 
tenuity,  the  "  animal  spirits."  The  whole  of  the  preceding  para- 
graph is  interesting,  as  exhibiting  Locke's  use  of  the  comparative 
method  in  the  study  of  psychology. 


45.  TEANSFERRING  OP  THOUGHTS  265 

from  the  pursuit  it  was  upon.  This,  at  first,  if  we  have 
let  the  contrary  practice  grow  to  an  habit,  will  perhaps 
be  difficult ;  but  constant  endeavours  will  by  degrees 
prevail,  and  at  last  make  it  easy.  And  when  a  man  is 
pretty  well  advanced,  and  can  command  his  mind  off  at 
pleasure  from  incidental  and  undesigned  pursuits,  it  may 
not  be  amiss  for  him  to  go  on  farther,  and  make  attempts 
upon  meditations  of  greater  moment,  that  at  the  last  he 
may  have  a  full  power  over  his  own  mind,  and  be  so  fully 
master  of  his  own  thoughts  as  to  be  able  to  transfer 
them  from  one  subject  to  another,  with  the  same  ease  that 
he  can  lay  by  anything  he  has  in  his  hand,  and  take 
something  else  that  he  has  a  mind  to  in  the  room  of  it. 
This  liberty  of  mind  is  of  great  use  both  in  business  and 
study,  and  he  that  has  got  it  will  have  no  small  advantage 
of  ease  and  despatch  in  all  that  is  the  chosen  and  useful 
employment  of  his  understanding. 

The  third  and  last  way  which  I  mentioned  the  mind  to 
be  sometimes  taken  up  with,  I  mean  the  chiming  of  some 
particular  words  or  sentence  in  the  memory,  and,  as  it 
were,  making  a  noise  in  the  head,  and  the  like,  seldom 
happens  but  when  the  mind  is  lazy,  or  very  loosely  and 
negligently  employed.  It  were  better  indeed  to  be  without 
such  impertinent  and  useless  repetitions  :  any  obvious 
idea,  when  it  is  roving  carelessly  at  a  venture,  being  of 
more  use,  and  apter  to  suggest  something  worth  con- 
sideration, than  the  insignificant  buzz  of  purely  empty 
sounds.  But  since  the  rousing  of  the  mind,  and  setting 
the  understanding  on  work  with  some  degree  of  vigour, 
does  for  the  most  part  presently  set  it  free  from  these 
idle  companions,  it  may  not  be  amiss  whenever  we  find 
ourselves  troubled  with  them,  to  make  use  of  so  profitable 
a  remedy  that  is  always  at  hand. 


INDEX 


Abstinknce,  27,  36 

Academic  Francaise,  157  n. 

Academies,  the,  4 

Academies  (learned  societies),  159  n. 

Acapulco,  186 

Accomplishments,  168 

Accounts,  merchants',  173 

^sop,  119/.,  128,  146,  155 

"  Age  of  Reason,"  11 

Air.  26,  28 

Alchemist,  215/. 

Algebra,  16,  200 

Allegory,  240 

America,  183 

Amusement   as   educational    prin 

ciple,  14/". 
Analogy,  251 
Anatomy,  127,  138 
Ancient  v.  modern,  222/. 
Angels,  185 
Anticipation,  230 
Apparitions.  160 
Appetite,  28,  30,  38,  39,  101 
Archimedes,  228 
Argument,  199.  211/. 

verbal,  213 
Arithmetic,  69,  147 
Assent,  240/.,  243/. 
Association,  252  //'. 
Astronomy,  127,"  138,  148,  220 
Athens,  183 
Attention,    18,    130   ff.,   217,   232, 

235/.,  248 
"  Aufkliirung,"  the,  10 
Authority,  8,  32  /".,  43,  45,  68,  82, 

184,  207,  217.  225/.,  "233 
Aversion,  101,  170 
Awe,  32/.,  78,  131,  133 
Axioms,  middle,  219 


Bacon,  2,  10,  182 

Basedow.  15/. 

Beast,  the  many-headed,  224 

Beating,  34,  36  f.,  40,  42,  61,  63. 

66,  69/.,  88,  131 
Bias,  210/:,  255 
Bible,  121  f.,  151,  159/, 
Blame,  43 
Bodies.  159 

Bookish  men.  211,  225 
Book-keeping,  173 
Books,  217/.,  225/. 
Bottoming,"  259 
Boyle,  162 

Breaking  the  mind,  37 
Breeding,  74/..  105.  110,  179 
Breviarium  Chronologicum,  150 
Brow-beating,  33 
Burgersdicius,  76 
Busby,  2 

Caithness,  Lady,  3 

Cambridge,  4 

Capacities,  248 

Cards,  171/. 

Carmarthen,  Marquis  of,  54  n. 

Cartesian,  74 

Castalio,  72 

Catechism,  122 

Chameleon  minds,  231 

Charity  schools,  19 

"Chemical    Club,"    the     Oxford, 

220  ». 
Chemistry,  220,  222 
Chemists  (in  medicine),  246 
Chicaper,  189 
Chiding,  36,  42,  45,  60 
Child  and  his  Book,  The,  121  n. 
Childishness,  43 


266 


INDEX 


267 


Children,  "tame,"  37 

should  be  stud  ed,  46,  116 

Children's  tears,  106/. 
questions,  94  ff. 

Chillingworth,  17^  153 

Chronology.  12.  127,  149,  151 

Civil  Law,  151 

Clarke,  Edward.  13,  21 

Clownishness,  47 

Coti'eehouse  gleaner,  tiie,  188 

Commandments,  the  Ten,  120 

Commendation.  40/.,  43.  47,  168 

Company,  48/.,  113,  261 

Complaints,  86 

Composition,  155 

Compulsion    as    educational    prin- 
ciple, 15,  59,  100  ft:,  116  ff-,  170 

Condillac,  10 

Cmuhuit  of  the    IJiulerstanding,   Of 
the,  4,  12,  13.  19,  75  w.,  181/.  ' 

Conversation,  50/.,  261 

Copernican  system,  the,  148 

Corpuscularians,  162,  234  h. 

Coste,  Pierre,  13 

Countryman,  the,  195 

Courage,  53,  115 

Court,  the.  191 

Courtesy,  the  doctrine  of,  4,  24  n., 
74 

Craving,  31.  84 

Credit,  40/".,  47.  168 

Credulity,  207 

Creed,  The,  120 

Criticism,  225 

Cruelty,  90  ./f. 

Crying,  87  ff- 

Cud  worth,  17,  162 

Cunnino;,  109 

Curiosity.  85,  93/. 

Curriculum,  1  ff  ,  ^<  14  f. 

Custom,  29,  31,  206,  2l'3,  218,  252, 
260 


V 


Dancing,  5,  16.  38,  47   69,  165 

master,  190 
De  InvenlAone,  155 
Deism.  9 
Di'jected.  35 
Democritus,  162  n. 
Demonstration,  198/.,  213 
Djsaguliers  (Course  of  JExperim3ii,'al 
Philosophy),  228  n. 


Descartes,  1.  10,  161,  162  n. 
Desire,  30/.,  38/,  41 
Despondency.  248/ 
Dessau  Philunthropinum,  16 
Desultory.  214 
Dibstones,  118 
Dice,  117/,  172 
Discipline,  32,  34,  37 

of  consequences,  38/.,  47 
Disgrace,  40/'. 
D  s[)leasure,  42 
Disposition,  57.  191 
Disputation,  154,  199,  237  ff.,  212, 

258 
Distinction.  164,  236  ff. 
Division.  235,  239 
Dogmas,  208 

Dogmatists  (in  medicine),  246 
Dominion,  b3/. 
Don  Quixote,  18 
Drawing,  69,  124 
Drinking,  172 
Duelling,  167/. 
Dumps,  261 

^Education,  18,  25,  28,  34  f.,  40, 
49/.,  183,  198,  20S,  216 
aim  of,  35 
faults  in,  23,  28  f.,  32,  38  f., 

44 
in  sixteentli  century,  152  n. 
popular,  18/. 
public  r.  ])rivate,  49/ 
Employment,  ripe  for.  152 
Endowment,  mental.  183,  190.  198, 

202 
English,  146  n.,  157 
English    Grammar    Schools,     The, 

126  Ji. 
English  law,  152 
literature,  17 
style,  140,  153 
Epicurus,  162  n 
Equality  of  all  men,  259 
Equivocal  terms.  237  ff'. 
Error,  210.  235,  242. '244/ 
Essay  concerning   Human    Under- 

stamling,  6,  9,'  10,  12,  252 
Essay    on     the     'leasonableness    of 

Christianity.  9 
Esteem,  38,  40  f.,  47 
Ethics,  151 


268 


INDEX 


Eton,  2 

Euclid,  149,  228 
Eutropius,  133,  146,  151 
Evidence,  241,  243/. 
Examine,  206  J.,  244/.,  253,  259 
Example,  46,  48,  55,  65 
Exchange,  The,  191 
Excuses,  103 
,  Experience  6/,  11,  41,  107 
Experiment,  225 

Facts,  225,  227 

Faculties,   181,  183   /f.,   191,  195, 

203,  212,  230 /f.,  232  ?^.,  243 
Fallacy,  242,  254/. 
Familiarity,  78/'. 
Fancy,  "the  court-dresser,"  242 
Farnaby's  Rhetoric,  157 
Fear,  33  f.,  39,  47 
Fencing,  69,  166/ 
Finery,  30,  38 
Foreigu  languages,  158 
Formal    training,   192,    196,    231, 

232  n.     See  Habit 
Fortunatus,  248 
Foundations,  192/'.,  197,  205,  209, 

212,  226,  229,  252,  258 
French,  69,  124,  127,  138 

peasantry,  202 
Frippery,  214 
Froebel,  15 
Fundamental  verities,  257/. 

Games,  102,  118 

"Gamesome  humour,"  44 

Gardening,  169/". 

General  conclusions,  210,  225,  229 

Gentleman,  the  country,  170,  187/ 

not  scholar,  163 
Gentleman's  calling,  the,  24  n.,  75, 

170 
Geographer.  189 

Geography,  1,  12,  127,  138,  146/ 
Geometry,  149 
Girls'  education,  18,  26  f. 
Globe,  the,  146  f. 
Goblins,  106/,,  160 
God,  105, 159/,  211,  221,  223,  248 
Goshen.  185 
Governesses,  18,  46 
Government,  Two  Treatises  of,  259  n 
Governor,  71/.,  177 


Grammar,  2.  38,  130,  134/.,  153 

schools,  69,  142,  144 
Grand  Seignior,  259 
Graving,  173,  194 
Gravitation,  161,  258 
Great  horse,  the,  166 
Greek,  2,  16,  50,  69,  74,  114, 136/, 

142,  157/,  163,  222 
Grotius,  151,  152  n. 
Grown  men,  197/,  200 

Habit,  29,  34,  44/.,  i90/. 
Handwork,  5,    16,    169   /.,    190, 

196 
Happiness,  38 
Haste,  212 /f.,  219,  228/ 
Health,  25/,  38,  169 
Hebrew,  2 
Hedger,  191 
Helvicus  (Helwig),  150 
Heresy,  244 
Heterodox  opinion,  223 
Hippocrates,  246 
History,  1,  5,  12,  92,  127,  149  f.. 

209/,  225 
History  of  the  Royal  Society,  1 
Hope,  39 
Hopkins,  114  n. 
Horace,  151,  222 
Horn-book,  121 
Hume,  10 

Ideas,  182,  192,  203.  234,251,  254 
abstract,  203,  234,  237 
association  of,  252 
clear  and   distinct,  165,   192, 

200,  233/,  237  /.,  256  A 
determined,  184, 189,  192,  212, 

234,  237  /,  2i>5 
frisking,  263,  265 
innate,  6 

intermediate,  184 
of  sense  (pei'cepts),  254 
train  of,  235,  256,  263 

Idleness,  97  ff.,  173 

Ignorance,   210,   220.  234  /",.  245, 
248 

Imitation,  43 

Impartiality,  184.    /See  IndifFerency 

Importunity,  31  / 

Imposition,  207 

Inattention,  children's,  130/,  236 


INDEX 


269 


Inclination,  35/.,  56/.,  97,166, 

255,  261 
Index  Rhetorieiis  (Farnaby),  157  n. 
Inditferency,  184.  206/.,  215,  217, 

219,  242/.,  254 
Individualism,  9 
Individuality,  46 
Induction,  209/.     See  Particulars, 

General  Conclusion 
Indulgence,  32,  35/. 
Inns  of  Court,  3,  153  »i.,  191 
Inoculating,  171 
Intellectual     System     (Cud  worth), 

162  n. 
"  Intentional  species,"  234 
Interest,  16 

Intermediate  principles,  218 
•'  Invisible  College,"  the,  162  n. 
Iron-work,  169 
Italian,  69,  138 

James,  William,  57  n.,  143  n. 
Joiner,  170 
Julian  period,  151 
Justin,  133,  146,  151 

Kant,  10,  17,  259  n. 
"  Knowing  is  seeing,"  227 
Knowledge,  6,  9  /'.,  93,  169,  211/.. 
224  /.,  238,  240,  250,  257, 
259 

deficient,  245 

dominating,  215/.,  220 

hearsay,  217 

implicit,  212,  227 

more  and  less,  187 

obligatory,  19.  201,  215 

true  end  of,  221 

Laboratory,  222 

Labour,  212 

Labourer,  the  day,  197 

La  Bruyere,  164 

La  Chalotais,  11,  17  n. 

Ladies  as  linguists,  134,  157 

Ladies  of  quality,  two,  113 

Language,  17 

Languages,  foreign,  158,  164,  175 

Lapidary,  173 

Latin,  2,  16,  50,  69,  74/.,  114/., 

125/.,  151,  156,  157/".,  187 
Law,  12,  151/.,  220 


Laziness,  212/.,  233,  265 

Learners,  233 

Learning,  3,  5,  15,  75,  105,  114/., 

116  «.,  145,  168,  187,  225 
Leisure,  duty  of,  200/.,  253 
Letters,  156 
Liberality,  86 

Liberty,  32/,,  43,  48,  99,  115 
Lily,  William,  126 
Listlessness,  99 
Locke : 

and    the    French    peasantry. 

202  M. 
educational  experience,  14 

writings,  11 
influence  abroad,  5,  10/.,  17 
Latin  correspondence,  140  n. 
practice  as  physician,  26  n.,  27 
studies  chemistry,  220  n. 
French,  146  n. 
the  Principia,  228  n. 
Logic,  12,  74,  115,  127,  153,  182/., 

222,  257/. 
Lord's  Prayer,  the,  120 
Lying,  67/,  103 

Manilla,  186 

Manners,  2,  5,  44,  46/,  74  ff.,  Ill 
Manual  arts,  190,  196.     See  Hand- 
work 
trade,  a,  169 
Map,  147 

Marian  Islands,  186 
Masham,  23,  147  n. 
Mathematics,  163, 196, 198/.,  219. 

221,  228,  238,255 
Memory,  15,  18,  44/,  127,  142/. 

See  Kote 
Mental discipline,.208,  215/,  248/ 

endowment,  183 
Metal-work,  173 
Metaphor,  240/ 
Metaphysics,  74,  127,  159,  221 
Method,  164/,  216,  250/ 

the  direct,  127 
Methodists  (in  medicine),  246 
Milton,  Of  Education,  4,  114  n. 
Mind,  28,  37,  39,  46  /.,  145,  183 

192,  196,  200,  208,  215,  219,  228, 

232,  242/,  246/,  249,  254,  267, 

260/,  264 
Minerva  (Sanctii),  129 


270 


INDEX 


Mizmaze,  218 

Modern  studies,  1,  2,  14,  222 

V.  ancient,  222  /'. 
Montaigne,  4,  10, 14/.,  29?t.,  33  ;i., 

36  n.,  (31  n.,  72,  110  n.,  V25  n. 
Moot-point,  139 
Morals,  12,  169 
Moses,  216 
Mote  and  beam ,  204 
Mother  teaching  Latin,  the,  145 
Mother-tongue,  17,  135,  140,  154 /f. 
Motives,  16,  36,  39 
Music,  5,  165,  191,  216 

Narrowness,  184/.,  220,  260 

"  Native  stock,"  46 

Natural   philosophy,    74,    158   If'., 

251,  258 
Nature,  46,  190  (f. 
Neglect,  40/. 
New  Philosophy,  the,  1/ 
Newton,  Isaac,  1,  10,  163,  258 
Noahs  Flood,  161 
JVotes  sur  la  Gorrespoihdence  de  John 

Locke,  146  7i. 
Novum  Organum,  182,  219  ii. 

Obedience,  32/.,  35,  37 
Observations,  "209  /".,  225,  229/., 

258 
Obstinacy,  60  f.,  88,  132 
OJices,  Tally's,  151 
Opiniatrety    (vel   opinionatry),    9, 

213.  231 
Opinion,  223  /'. ,  244,  246,  256 
Optician,  173 
Oral  composition,  155 
Orators,  241 
Orthodoxy,  244 
"  Over  and  over  again,"  44/. 
Over-exertion,  232 
Oxford,  4,  220  n. 

Pain.  36,  39 

Painting,  169/.,  191.  258 

Paradox,  224 

Parnassus,  141 

Partiality,  220/. 

Particulars,    209/.,    217,    229/., 

237 
"Parts,"  183,  198,  248 
Passion,  260  f.,  264 


"Patriot,"  the,  188 

Perception,  254  »t. 

I'erfuniing,  173 

Peripatetics,  74,  162,  234  «. 

Perizonius,  129 

Perseverance,  247 

Pertness,  96 

Pestalozzi,  11,  120  n. 

Philanthropinists.     Sc;  Basedow 

Fhilosophia     Compnidiosa    (Schei- 
bler),  76 

Physic,  27.  37,  220,  246 

Physical  exercises,  5 

Physics,  162^r-N 
>Play,  14 /■.,(^  31,  43  ;'.,  48,  57, 
^      101  /..  115,  171 

Playthings,  102,  117 

Pleasure,  36/.,  41 

Ploughman,  190,  197 

Poet,  the,  141/. 

Poetic  vein,  17,  141,  191 

Poetry,  142 

Politics,  12 

Poor  Law  reform,  19 

Poppy-water,  27 

Popular  education,  18  7^. 

Portuguese,  115,  118  " 

Posse  {coiiiitatus),  260  n. 

Practice,  31,  45  f.,  190,  231  ff. 

Praise,  40/,  43",  47,  168 

Piejudiee,  184,  204/.,  230 

Premises,  185 

Presumption,  187,  200.  247/ 

Primer,  121 

Priiicipia   (Newton),  163,    228  n., 
258  n. 

Principles,  192/.,  208/. 
intermediate,  218/. 

Principling  children,  258 

Probabilities,  199,  201,  213,  227 

Proof,  213,  228 

Prudence,  5 

Psalter,  121 

Psychology,  6/,  11 

Public  V.  private  education,  49  ff". 

"Pudder,"210 

Puftendorf,  151,  152  )i. 
V  Punishment,     34    f.,    38    /f'.,     45, 
60/.,  89,  101 

Questious,  94/.,  246,  249/.,  257/. 
Quintus  Cnrtius,  151 


INDEX 


271 


Rational  creature,  28,  33,  39,  196, 

201/.,  207,  221 
Rationaliain,  9,  11 
Readers,  great,  216,  225  /. 
Readiug.  115/7'.,  209,  216  ff.,  225#'., 

256 
"Real  knowledge,"  8,  16  /".,  127, 

138 
Reason,    28,    30   ff.,   35,    38,    159, 
184/.,  187 

miscarriages  of,  184  /".,  208 
Reasoning,   64,   184,    194  /.,    215, 
225,  257 

trains  of,  194/,  198,  201 
Records,  225,  227 
Recreation,  57,  166,  171 
Reflection,  7,  44,  216  /'. 
Religion,  201/,  208  " 
Religions  belief,  193/ 

controversy,  188 

instruction,  19,  120, 123  ?(, ,  169 
Renascence,  4 

Reputation,  33,  40/,  43,  151 
Research,  227 
Resignation,  231 
Restraint,  32/,  37,  48 

Revelation,  159   i- — 

Reverence,  99 
Rewards,  37/. 
Reyvxird  the  Fox,  1 20" 
Rhetoric,  2,  12,  153/,  241 
Rich,  Jeremiah,  124 
Riding,  16,  166 

post,  228 
Ripe  for  employment.  152 
Rochow,  Von,  17 
Rod,  the,  15,  33,  36/,  39 
Rome,  222 

Rope  dancers,  190,  194 
Rote,  120,  123,  130,  175/. 
Rousseau,  11,  39  n.,  120  n. 
Royal  Oak  lottery,  117,  119 
Royal  Society,  the.  1,  162  n. 
Rule,  the  Golden,  259 
Rules,  44/.,  191 

Sanctius  (Sanchez),  129 
Sauntering,  76,  96/.,  173 
Savannah,  228 
Saviour,  our.  259 
Scepticism,  9 
Scheibler,  76 


Scholar,  163,  200,  258 

Schools,  Iff.,  15,  52,  69,  74.  138, 

142 
Science,  10 

Scioppius  (Schoppe),  129 
Sectarianism,  184/.,  211.  217,  246, 

252/,  256 
Self-denial,  28,  30/,  35,  38/ 
Seneca,  76 

Sense-impressions,  7,  203 
Senses,  instruction  by  the,  15,  127, 

186,  203 
Sequence,  250  f. 

Servants,  41/",  46,  48/.,  70,  85,  93 
Severity,  32,  34/,  37' 
Shame,  36,  40  ff.,  61,  168 
Sheriff;  260 
Short-hand,  124 
Similes,  240/ 
Smattering,  214 
Solon,  29 

Some   Thoughts  coiiccrning  Educa- 
tion, 4,  12/,  21/ 
translations  of,  13 
Soiiu  Thoughts  concerning  Reading 

and  Study,  12,  18 
Sophistry,  235.  237,  255/ 
Spectres,  160 
Spelling,  118 
Spencer,  Herbert,  39  n. 
Spirits,  106,  159/.,  185 
Squire  Western,  3 
Standards,  192 
Standpoints,  diff"erent,  185 
Sternhold,  114  n. 
Strauchius,  150 
Study,  12,  214,  217,  225 

men  of,  18.5,  211,  222 
"  Substantial  forms,"  234 
Sugar-plums,  30,  37 

Tabula  rasa,  the,  6,  11,  183  7i. 
Talk,  212/.,  218,  237,  240,  259 
Task,  56,  58,  97,  115 
Temper  (temperament),  82  /.,  97 

108.  130,  166,  179,  193,  214 
Testimony,  213      See  Evidence 
Theaincm     historicum    (Helwig), 

150  n. 
Themes,  139 
Theology,  16,  220 
Tlieory,  educational.  5,  11 


272 


INDEX 


Theory  of  the  Earth  (RmneX),  161  n. 
Things  as  they  are  in  themselves, 

39/.,  245,263 
Thinking,  216.  260 
Trade,  169,  172 

Transferring  of  thoughts,  259  ff. 
Translations,  133,  138 
Travel,  3,  12,  175/. 
Truth,  108,  187,  199.  206.  210/., 

224,  227,  229,  241/.,  244,258/ 
Truths,  local,  244 
Tully  (Marcus  Tullius  Cicero),  127, 

151,  153/ 
Tumblers,  190 
Turkish  Sultan,  the,  259  n. 
Turning,  169 

Tutor,  70/.,  115,  145/,  164,  177 
private,  3,  36,  44,  47 

Understanding,  the,  181  /.,  192 
defects  of,  209  f.,  221,  229/., 

247,  252,  258,  261/ 
right,  254 
Universality  (omniscience),  214/ 
Universities,  1,  4,  187,  191 
Utility  as  educational  principle,  14, 
16,  76/,  166 

Vagary,  80 

Variety  of  mental  endowment,  133 

Varnishing,  173 

Verses,  141/ 


Verulam,  182 

Vices,  38,  46,  48 

Virgil,  151 

Virtue.  5,  28.  31.  33,  35,  38/,  41, 

43,  54,  105,  145,  151,  168 
Visions,  a  sort  of,  263/ 
Voiture,  156 
Voltaire,  9/ 
"Vox  populi,"  223 
Vulgar,  the,  253 
opinion,  223/ 

Wandering  of  thought,   130,   132, 

235/ 
Westminster.  2/ 

Hall,  191 
Whipping,  66/. 
Whitehall,  188 
Will,  181 

Wisdom,  105,  109.  168 
Wood-work,  170 
Words,  233/.,  246 
Working  schools,  19 
World,  entering  the,  73/,  177 

the  intellectual,  248 
Worthington,  Dr.  John,  122 
Writing,  123,  194,  255 
Writings,  225 

Xerxes,  144 

Zedlitz,  Von,  17 


BILUNO  AMD  SOKB,   LTB.,   PRIMTXBS,  GUILDFORD 


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AP 


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